'They haven't learned enough yet to say what they don't really think. That comes later, when kids begin to turn into people and find out that they are alone.' If it hadn't been for Natalie, Owen would probably just have gone on pretending to conform. Owen is seventeen and smart. He knows what he wants to do with his life. But life doesn't seem to agree. All the adverts, all the pop songs, everything says that there is only one important thing in life: man plus woman equals sex. But then he meets Natalie and he realizes he doesn't know anything much at all.

All the songs, all the ads - they are just a fantasy world. And Owen has to come to terms with the complications that mark out the real relationships between men and women, and the things which really matter. A VERY LONG WAY FROM ANYWHERE ELSE is a superb coming-of-age novel and one of the most inspiring works Ursula Le Guin has written.