Nine Hundred Grandmothers

by R.A. Lafferty

Here at last are the finest of Lafferty's shorter works, stories about - * A man who found one day that he knew absolutely everyone in the world *A race who kept their most ancient ancestors on... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441580513
• ISBN13: 9780441580514
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Each story a diamond

The short stories of R.A.Lafferty are (still?) a treasure known to not many people. Forget about writers filed under "Fantasy" and leading you to another Middle Earth copy. THIS is Fantasy and it will lead you both to the End of Time/Universe AND to your own block where aliens just started a new trade on the other side of the road for "Jupiter only offers freezing cold and you can only do business with insects" (story: "In our block") I read and re-read this compilation since I was 18 years old. It tickles ALL your senses. And leaves you rolling on the floor sometimes too. Buy it, you will be amazed!

Lafferty is a genius

The "cranky old man from Tulsa" is one the great eccentrics of fantastical literature.His stylish, tumultuous, absurdist and sui generis short stories often blends theological speculations, satire, black humour, conspiracies, cartoonish humour..UUUFFFFFFF.He is a conscious stylist that assaults the reader with torrents of words, invention and craziness not often encountered in any kind of literature.On the surface his short stories seems to be aimed only to entertain ( and they DO entertain !! ) but more often than not they address serious issues. NINE HUNDRED GRANDMOTHERS is a fine introduction to Lafferty and shoudn't be missed . Contents: Nine Hundred Grandmothers ========== ***** Land of the Great Horses =========== **** Ginny Wrapped in the Sun =========== ** The Six Fingers of Time ============ ***** Frog on the Mountain =============== **** All the People ===================== **** Primary Education of the Camiroi==== **1/2 Slow Tuesday Night ================= ***1/2 Snuffles =========================== **** Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne ====== **** Name of the Snake ================== ***** Narrow Valley ====================== ***** Polity and Custom of the Camiroi === ** In Our Block ======================= **** Hog-Belly Honey ==================== **** Seven Day Terror =================== **** The Hole on the Corner ============= **** What's the Name of that Town ? ===== ****12 Through Other Eyes ================= ***** One at a Time ====================== ***1/2 Guesting Time ====================== ***1/2

One of Lafferty's finest collections

How on earth do you describe Lafferty? You can't. Think of a mad uncle telling tall tales. Sometimes he reminds me of Cordwainer Smith, sometimes of Daniil Kharms. He's unique.This is probably the best introduction to his short stories, although there is rather more pure SF in here than you'll find in some of the other collections. It doesn't contain all of his best stories (such as the wonderful "Been a long, long time" in the collection "Ringing changes") but it's got a fair bunch of them.There's currently a volunteer project under way to publish the Collected Works of Jack Vance, the Vance Integral Edition (VIE). I wish there was a similar bunch of dedicated people doing a LIE.

Nothing else like it

R.A. Lafferty describes description. Even his fans can't tell you whether his stories are science fiction, fantasy, horror, comedy, social commentary, farce, or satire.Nine Hundred Grandmothers is Lafferty's masterpiece, a collection of two dozen of the most unusual, funny, deranged, haunting short stories you will ever read. Tales like "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", "Hog-Belly Honey", and "Slow Tuesday Night" will stick in the most remote recesses of your mind forever. Wacky characters encounter even wackier characters in the most bizarre circumstances imaginable, all told in the down-home, conversational style of an old country storyteller. Soon Lafferty lulls you into believing that these weird goings-on are perfectly normal and *you're* the one who's odd. And then things *really* get strange....I have read perhaps 10,000 books in my lifetime. This wonderful short story collection is simply my favorite of them all. Great to see it back in print.

The Master's Best Collection

R. A. Lafferty, "the cranky old man from Tulsa," has written some fine novels: OKLA HANNALI, THE DEVIL IS DEAD, FOURTH MANSIONS, and others equally good. However, his weird (but wise) view of the world is at its best in his short fiction. NINE HUNDRED GRANDMOTHERS is his best single collection, one of the true landmark collections of modern fiction. It's amazing that such a wonderful collection hasn't had more influence, but then again it's hard to imagine anyone else writing anything even remotely like a Lafferty story except as a pastiche or tribute. He's that different.The stories here include many of his best: the title story, "Ginny Wrapped in the Sun," "Slow Tuesday Night," "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne," "Narrow Valley," "Hog-Belly Honey," "The Hole on the Corner," "Name of the Snake," and others. The only excuse for not buying this is that you're waiting for the collected Lafferty!