The following version of this short story was used to create the guide: Bisson, Terry. "They're Made Out of Meat." CommonLit, 1990.

Terry Bisson's short story "They're Made Out of Meat" is a piece of science fiction which defies conventional notions of structure, plot, form, and point of view. Indeed, the entirety of the short story is presented in a two-person dialogue. This dialogue is entirely devoid of narrative context. This means that there is neither a first, second, nor a third person narrator orienting the reader to the narrative world or guiding her through it. These unconventional formal tactics are in service of the author’s overarching thematic explorations. For the sake of clarity, the following summary embraces a more streamlined and traditional mode of explanation. The present tense is used throughout.

Not long after the first of two space explorers discovers a series of new creatures on a neighboring planet, they impart the news to their companion. The first individual tells the second individual that the creatures are made of meat. The second individual is in shock. They repeatedly question the first individual, refusing to believe what they are hearing. Creatures made of meat are unheard of.

The first individual assures the second individual of their discoveries and revelations. They are certain of their findings, because after locating the creatures, they "picked up several" of them from various parts of the planet, "took them aboard" their recon vessels, "and probed them all the way through" (1). The results of this probing revealed that the creatures are entirely made of meat. The second individual still has difficulty believing the first. If the creatures are made of meat, they cannot understand how they have been using radios to communicate all along.

The first individual reveals that the creatures have created machines in order to communicate through them. This news is also shocking to the second individual. They cannot imagine that meat creatures could possibly invent or create machines.

The first individual starts to get frustrated with the second individual. They assure them that the creatures are meat from birth until death. Although they have brains, their brains are also made of meat. Another series of probing revealed this information. The creatures not only can use their meat brains to think, they also have the capacity to love and to dream.

Finally the second individual grasps what the first is saying. They then ask what the creatures want and how the first individual suggests they handle them. The first individual guesses that the creatures want to converse, exchange ideas, and explore. Although they are legally supposed to invite the creatures in and to accept them without judgment, the first individual does not think this is necessary. The second individual agrees “one hundred percent” (3). Both individuals admit that this tactic might seem unfeeling. However, they have little desire to establish communication or relations with these odd lifeforms. When the first individual reveals that a hydrogen intelligence has also made contact, they both agree they may as well be friendly towards it. They cannot imagine how lonely the universe would be if one had no one at all.