Extremities: Stories

by Kathe Koja

Book Overview

In the hypnotic, psychological landscape of Extremities, people pushed to the limits of endurance enter extreme states of mind and being. These stories shine an eerie light on the netherworld of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568581505
• ISBN13: 9781568581507
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A disquieting muse

Kathe Koja is the author of The Cipher, Bad Brains, Strange Angels, Skin and Kink... and if you wanted to sum up this collection in ten words or less, those titles would do it, for ciphers, bad brains, strange angels, skin and kink can be all found here. An even better précis, however, is the title of one of the stories: 'The Disquieting Muse'.In Danse Macabre, his non-fiction book about horror, Stephen King quotes a review in which a horror film is dismissed as being "for those who like to slow down to look at car crashes" (which, King suggests, is most if not all of us). Koja's brand of horror is quite different. Only a few of the 16 tales in Extremities are horror stories, in the sense of having conventionally scary plots and subject matter - ghosts, demons, monsters, madness - but even most of those that aren't have a dreamlike quality that is disquieting if not terrifying, more like the moments before or after a car crash, where shock distorts your sense of time and reality in a way which is painless but in which everything feels vaguely wrong. Even though all of these stories are told in third person, many have the subjective quality of first-person narrative, making it more difficult to deny or even doubt the insanity of what is apparently happening.Koja's basic plots are simple, but unpredictable; her main strength, apart from her sensual and often surreal style, is her characterization. As with The Cipher, many of these stories are shaped by how her complex and often bizarre yet believable characters will deal with equally bizarre situations. In 'Arrangement for Invisible Voices', an impotent man becomes obsessed with the head of a Barbie doll. In 'Bird Superior', the survivor of a plane crash becomes capable of flight. In 'Illusions in Relief', an artist specializing in horrific collages is sought out as a faith healer. In 'Queen of Angels', a nurse believes that a comatose patient is crying pearls.If you're unfamiliar with Koja's work, this is an excellent introduction. If you like her novels, these stories are just as weird, but tighter and slightly more intense. Buy it, keep it, and read the stories with intervals of reality between them for maximum effect.

The most brilliant, innovative and visionary writer alive...

This short story collection is a gift, indeed. Kathe Koja's stories are so wonderful that I often scanned the shelves of bookstores for anthologies with Koja stories, then I'd sit and read her story in its entirety.Now, at last, we have all of her stories in one volume. Buy this book, then seek out her novels, even the ones out of print. Koja is by far the best novelist alive and by signing with Four Walls Eight Windows and getting away from the horror publishing houses, she may finally get the attentions she deserves.Favorites from this collection include "Angels in Love," "Bird Superior" and "The Neglected Garden." Buy this book now so you can start catching up on years of great reading!

Astute and Thought-Provoking

It was so nice to read a collection of stories by an author with a truly original voice and style. Ms. Koja meshes prose and poetry to create a complex - yet unimperious - flow. I read this book quite some time ago, and I can still remember each story that comprised it vividly. That is the tattoo of a talented author. My favorite stories were, by far, "Waking the Prince" and "Lady Lazarus", a wicked memorial to Sylvia Plath if there ever was one. Although some of the stories were better than others, it seemed to me that each story served as an integral part of the eerie-riddled beauty that Ms. Koja meant to create.

An excellent collection of a great writer.

EXTREMITIES is a collection of 14 reprints and 2 originals. All are excellent. These are mostly tales of fantasy with a dash of internal psychodrama thrown in to concoct a potion so alluring that I read the whole collection in one sitting. Koja has a way of spitting out a simple scene and taking it to it's totally unexpected ends. For example, "The Neglected Garden": a husband wants to divorce his wife, she doesn't want to, so she impales herself on the back fence and the husband watches as days go by. Simple enough premise, right? But what's inside these two characters, how do they cope with one's "suicide" so public, what happens when a neighbor or friend sees her? That's the magic of Koja's writing...always wanting to know "what next?". Another tale, "Bird Superior" asks, "What if a plane crash survivor is given the "gift" of flight? How would you deal with it? Could you handle it? Koja looks at it and the conclusion is mind-bending. These are but 2 examples of Kathe Koja's artistry in the short form. A great introduction to those of you have heard of, but not yet undertaken a Koja novel. To Koja fans like myself, this is a treat of the mind and soul. Highest Recommendation.

A Brain-tingling collection

It's a ahame that so many of Kathe Koja's books appear to be out-of-print. As somewhat of a horror officiando, I truely found these stories to be some of the most stimulating and STRANGE that I have read. I consider this collection to rank right up there with my favorite author, Clive Barker. I was even able to get my husband (who thinks my literary preferences leave something to be desired) to read the second tale, "The Neglected Garden", and HE LIKED IT! A must for everyone's collection!