We Never Talk about My Brother

by Peter S. Beagle

Overview

Featuring the Locus Award—winning novelette, “By Moonlight”

The extraordinary stories in this new contemporary fantasy collection show a mature, darker side of the author of The Last Unicorn in modern parables of love, death, and transformation shadowed lightly with melancholy.

The Angel of Death enjoys newfound celebrity while moonlighting as an anchorman on the network news; King Pelles the Sure, the shortsighted ruler of a gentle realm, betrays himself in dreaming of a “manageable war”; an American librarian discovers that, much to his surprise and sadness, he is also the last living Frenchman; and rivals in a supernatural battle forgo pistols at dawn, choosing instead to duel with dramatic recitations of terrible poetry.

Featuring previously unpublished stories alongside recently published classics, this is a lovely, haunting, and wholly satisfying read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781892391834
Publisher:	Tachyon Publications
Publication date:	03/15/2009
Pages:	219
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Peter S. Beagle is the best-selling author of The Last Unicorn, which has sold a reported five million copies since its initial publication in 1968. His other novels include A Fine & Private Place, The Innkeeper’s Song, and Tamsin. His short fiction has been collected in four volumes by Tachyon Publications, including The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche, The Line Between, We Never Talk About My Brother, and Sleight of Hand. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, Mythopoeic, and Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire awards as well as the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Editorial Reviews

"Peter S. Beagle has both opulence of imagination and mastery of style."
New York Times Book Review

“Hugo and Nebula Award winner Beagle showcases his narrative breadth in this eclectic new collection with nine powerful fantasy tales and a short set of poems based on the famous Unicorn Tapestries. In the title story, one benevolent sibling must somehow stop another from becoming the Angel of Death. ‘The Last and Only, or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French’ explores the significance of identity as a mild-mannered American librarian irrevocably transforms into the last true Frenchman, while the profoundly moving ‘King Pelles the Sure’ denounces the insanity of war. The most memorable selection is ‘The Stickball Witch,’ in which a group of Bronx boys playing stickball come face to face with the suspected witch of their neighborhood. Impressively diverse themes, styles, and subject matter make this collection addictive.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Peter [Beagle] is one of those writers who just seems to be getting better and better, and his short stories are delights.”
—Neil Gaiman

...rooted in rich, thoughtful prose...each tale is a beautifully crafted gem, cut and polished to perfection....”
—Library Journal

“A perfect little assemblage of oddities, a handful of extremely well-realized sketches with unusual, unpredictable endings...instantly addictive.”
—The A.V. Club

“Beagle’s true strength in the last few years lies with his short fiction, an area in which he’s been both prolific and brilliant. His latest collection, from Tachyon Publications, showcases the best of his recent output.”
—Omnivoracious.com

...not only worth reading, but worth adding to your library, for you are likely to find yourself returning to these stories again and again.”
—Reading the Leaves

“Beagle is a treasure, that’s all there is to it.... Peter Beagle’s new collection, We Never Talk About My Brother, is a great way to introduce yourself to the fabulous work this wonderful writer has been doing these recent years.”
—SF Site

“Beagle plays the classic themes of love and death, sacrifice, and self-discovery like a master. Never clichéd, he pulls out new riffs and vamps on the expected conventions of modern fantasy, even the ones he helped create in the first place.... Pure poetry. Beagle is an American bard.”
—io9.com

...Peter S. Beagle [has] rejoined the main flow of literature with a vengeance.... [H]is work is marvelous.”
—Green Man Review

“I am sorely tempted to chase up every single word Peter S. Beagle has ever written and devour them at my leisure.”
?SFCrowsnest, Eamonn Murphy

From the Publisher