Stories from the back of the brain.
These short stories span a period of 40 years. They are as eclectic as the insect world, ranging from the bizzare to the quixotic and back again. Plucked from an oeuvre of 145 stories, they are beautifully crafted tales, several of which have snatched awards from the jaws of oblivion or shouldered their way into short lists.
Though he writes longer fiction Garry Kilworth considers himself primarily a short story writer, which is his first and last love. There is science fiction, fantasy, horror, folk lore and legend within these pages. What does not fall into any of those categories is simply unclassifiable weird fish.
The first tale is a parallel world story in which we, the people who inhabit this planet, can walk on water. The last story involves the kind of madness which is brought on by too much discipline and good order. These two sandwich a vast array of brilliant and sometimes puzzling pieces of prose.
With a foreword by Claude Lalumière.
"One is left in no doubt about the quality of the writing or of Kilworth's talent..." Times Educational Supplement
"The tales are haunting, often almost poetic, but still chilling." Fantasy Zone on In The Country Of Tattooed Men
"His characters are strong and the sense of place he creates is immediate and strong." Sunday Times
"Kilworth is a master of his trade." Punch
"Arguably the finest writer of short fiction today, in any genre." New Scientist
Contents:
An Introspective Perspective: Reflections on the Short Fiction of Garry Kilworth by Claude Lalumière
Atlantic Crossing
Filming the Making of the Film of the Making of Fitzcarraldo
Bronze Casket for a Mummified Shrew-Mouse
Memories of the Flying Ball Bike Shop
Murders in the White Garden
Inside the Walled City
Store Wars
Wayang Kulit
The Frog Chauffeur
Attack of the Charlie Chaplins
The Sculptor
Blood Orange
Truman Capote's Trilby: The Facts
Spiral Sands
In the Country of Tattooed Men
On the Watchtower at Plataea
Triptych:
The Black Wedding
Murderers Walk
Hogfoot Right and Bird-hands
Hobblythick Lane
Dogfaerie
Dark Hills, Hollow Clocks
Sumi Dreams of a Paper Frog
The Songbirds of Pain
Almost Heaven
Blind Windows
Feral Moon The Thunder of the Captains
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