The Secret History of Fantasy

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Overview

Step Right Up and buy your ticket to the impossible marvels of the Barnum Museum. Take a highly caffeinated ride through the Empire of Ice Cream. If you dare, hunt feral archetypes deep within a haunted English forest. Or conquer the New World with a band of geographically-challenged Norsemen.

Tired of the same old fantasy? Here are the stories that you've never imagined possible. Nineteen extraordinary writers offer much-needed antidotes to clichéd tales of swords and sorcery. Combining the best of the old and the new, these instant classics will inspire even the most jaded of readers. Beloved author and anthologist Peter S. Beagle reveals the secret: ...

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Overview

Step Right Up and buy your ticket to the impossible marvels of the Barnum Museum. Take a highly caffeinated ride through the Empire of Ice Cream. If you dare, hunt feral archetypes deep within a haunted English forest. Or conquer the New World with a band of geographically-challenged Norsemen.

Tired of the same old fantasy? Here are the stories that you've never imagined possible. Nineteen extraordinary writers offer much-needed antidotes to clichéd tales of swords and sorcery. Combining the best of the old and the new, these instant classics will inspire even the most jaded of readers. Beloved author and anthologist Peter S. Beagle reveals the secret: fantasy is back and it's better than ever.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Disparaging the commodification of fantasy, Beagle (The Last Unicorn) uses 19 stories and two essays to demonstrate that unique works of imagination are still appearing on both sides of the ostensible "separation of fantasy from actual literature." The all-star cast includes genre powerhouses (Maureen F. McHugh, Terry Bisson), mainstream favorites (Yann Martel, T.C. Boyle), and incorrigible line-straddlers (Jonathan Lethem, Stephen Millhauser). Concluding essays by Ursula Le Guin and David Hartwell can seem strident in their condemnation of "nostalgic, conservative, pastoral, and optimistic" epic fantasy. But in tales like Millhauser's "The Barnum Museum," which itself encapsulates the entire discussion of how to view the literature of the fantastic, there is a sense of frivolity and freedom that permits this anthology to "elude the mundane, and to achieve... beauty and exaltation." (Sept.)
Library Journal
From Stephen King's vibrantly macabre tale of a woman who knew that a straight line was not the shortest distance between two points ("Mrs. Todd's Shortcut") to Kij Johnson's somber narrative on the life and death of a circus trick ("26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss"), the 19 selections in this volume demonstrate that "fantasy" does not confine itself to certain writers and belongs as much in the mainstream as in a separate category. Informative essays by Ursula K. Le Guin and David G. Hartwell illuminating the origins of the fantasy genre add an additional dimension to this already strong anthology. VERDICT Including such classics as Terry Bisson's "Bears Discover Fire" and Robert Holdstock's "Mythago Wood" (the story that served as the starting point for his similarly titled novel), as well as stories by Francesca Lia Block and Neil Gaiman, this collection serves as a touchstone for fantasy lovers and short story aficionados alike.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781892391995
  • Publisher: Tachyon Publications
  • Publication date: 7/22/2010
  • Pages: 432
  • Sales rank: 699,107
  • Product dimensions: 5.90 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Peter S. Beagle
Peter S. Beagle

Peter S. Beagle is the author of A Fine and Private Place, The Innkeeper’s Song, The Last Unicorn, The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche, Tamsin, and We Never Talk About My Brother. He wrote the screenplays for the animated feature-film versions of The Last Unicorn and The Lord of the Rings and is the recipient of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, a Hugo, and a Nebula Award. He lives in Oakland, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction Peters S. Beagle 9

1 Ancestor Money Maureen F. Mchugh 15

2 Scarecrow Gregory Maguire 31

3 Lady Of The Skulls Patricia A. McKillip 43

4 We Are Norsemen T. C. Boyle 55

5 The Barnum Museum Steven Millhauser 65

6 Mrs. Todd's Shortcut Stephen King 81

7 Bears Discover Fire Terry Bisson 109

8 Bones Francesca Lia Block 121

9 Snow, Glass, Apples Neil Gaiman 125

10 Fruit and Words Aimee Bender 139

11 The Empire of Ice Cream Jeffrey Ford 151

12 The Edge of the World Michael Swanwick 179

13 Super Goat Man Jonathan Lethem 195

14 John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner Susanna Clarke 215

15 The Book of Martha Octavia E. Butler 225

16 The Vita Æterna Mirror Company Yann Martel 245

17 Sleight of Hand Peter S. Beagle 275

18 Mythago Wood Robert Holdstock 297

19 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss Kij Johnson 341

Appendix 1 The Critics, The Monsters, and The Fantasists Ursula K. Le Guin 355

Appendix 2 The Making of The American Fantasy Genre David G. Hartwell 367

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