It Takes Two (story)

"It Takes Two" is a science fiction short story by Nicola Griffith, about love and neurochemistry. It was first published in the anthology Eclipse Three, in 2009.

Synopsis

After a businesswoman falls in love with a dancer, they discover that they were both participants in an experiment.

Reception

"It Takes Two" was a finalist for the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[1]

The Wall Street Journal called it "neatly constructed, intellectually challenging and smoothly written", and described its theme as "(h)ow much control should our bosses have over us?"[2]

At Strange Horizons, Abigail Nussbaum felt that the story was structurally flawed, but nonetheless "brilliant" for noting that if true love can be chemically induced, then it can also be commodified; Nussbaum further lauded Griffith for not concealing "the fact that Susanna [the dancer] has sold herself in the most profound way possible, and that Cody [the businesswoman] has bought her", concluding that the story is "simultaneously satisfying and horrifying" due to the "tension between romance and revulsion".[3]

gollark: Apparently when I transcribe stuff of the screen I end up accidentally rewording it slightly, which hurts my accuracy (or speed, if I just go back).
gollark: * about english essays, actually
gollark: Observe, my "english short story" about "english short stories".
gollark: Oh, right.
gollark: I'm pretty sure these mostly just derive WPM from CPS.

References
  1. 2010 Hugo Award Nominees, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved February 10, 2019
  2. Many Angles on the Future, by Martin Morse Wooster; published July 23, 2010; retrieved February 10, 2019
  3. 2009 short fiction, by Abigail Nussbaum, at Strange Horizons; published March 8, 2010; retrieved February 10, 2019
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