Science Fiction Story Review

Report on the Sexual Behavior on Arcturus X

by Robert F. Young
Reviewed date: 2023 Jan 5
11 pages
cover art
cover art

Here's a fun little story published in the November 1957 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Hubert Harrington and Alison Bennett land on Arcturus X to study the native Notantanawites. Hubert is a quiet and studious man who is tired of Alison's constant "risqué reminiscences" and her constant "alluding to the Men in Her Life." The Notantanawites grab them and throw them in jail. Hubert figures out why: they are a "highly sexed species" that considers "sexual activity" to be the mark of sanity or normality. Hubert and Alison aren't in jail, they've been institutionalized for being virgins. Despite some initial resistance from Alison, Hubert resolves the situation, and poor Alison—whose lurid tales of her supposed exploits were just a cover to hide her anxiety about sex—is delighted; Hubert and Alison get married.

The story is ridiculous but I found it amusing.


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