The Empire of Ice Cream

By Jeffrey Ford

Book Overview

A collection of short fiction that aims to mix the mundane with the metaphysical, the pairings of the everyday and the extraordinary to yield supernatural results such as a young musician perceives... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1930846398
• ISBN13: 9781930846395
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Better Than The Title Might Suggest

Despite its award winning status, the title of this anthology led me to believe it was either young adult oriented or in the vein of the recent plethora of updated fairy tale collections. I was very pleased to find I was wrong. Jeffrey Ford is a highly intelligent, clever wordsmith that more closely resembles Bradbury and Wolfe than the Datlow/Windling crowd. Like his unstable scholar's work in "The Weight of Words", Ford's writings are greater than the sum of their parts. In particular, I'd like to praise the novella, "Botch Town." As soon as I was a few paragraphs into it, I recognized the familiar territory of the "remember the year when..." stories by Bradbury, King, et al, that I enjoy so much. The autobiographical tone was convincing, and the characters were universal and believable. My friends and I had our own version of Mr. Blah Blah, and our own Halloween hijinx were remarkably similar to those described within. (I also appreciated the subtle nod to Spike Jones fans.) Among my other favorites are the darkly humorous "Boatman's Holiday" and the surreal tour-de-force, "Giant Land." If you're looking for a collection of substantial, sophisticated yet accessible, stick-to-your-ribs short fiction, then pick up The Empire of Ice Cream.

Boy, I enjoy this author's work

I'd seen a dramatic reading of "The Annals of Eelin-Ok" (one of the stories in this collection), an experience that has stuck with me much longer than most dramatic productions... Mr. Ford does not profess to be a playwright (yet), but he writes with SO much immediacy, whatever is happening in his stories is so important to his characters, that you get sucked into the stories very quickly - what is important to those characters now becomes important to you, too. I'm currently enjoying very much his earlier THE FANTASY WRITER'S ASSISTANT collection of stories, and look forward to re-visiting "The Annals of Eelin-Ok" in this volume, as well as discovering the accompanying tales. To be transported into his stories is a very gratifying experience. Who'd have thought that a dramatic reading about the sprites/spirits that inhabit sandcastles between low and high tides could become a epic tale, full of romance, action, and contemplation on life itself? And all the while having you on the edge of your seat? I've seen a lot of theatre, and wish more of it was an engaging to experience as the work of this non-playwright.

Taste the ice cream on your tongue. . .

Jeffrey Ford is AMAZING. There are not many authors I could describe as such, but he is one. Buy his book; this man is an undiscovered gem. His literary fantasy is gorgeous in the way he tells it and the stories themselves. As much as I devoured this anthology, I was also really disheartened when I turned the last page. To make myself feel better, I've been giving everyone I know copies of the book or encouraging him or her to try Mr. Ford. Let me do the same for you; you won't regret it (something I do not say lightly).

An impressively engaging collection of fourteen of the author's most evocative and best crafted shor

The Empire Of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford is an impressively engaging collection of fourteen of the author's most evocative and best crafted short stories. Intertwining fantasy, reality, the straight-up peculiar, The Empire Of Ice Cream showcases: The Annals of Eelin-Ok, Jupiter's Skull, A Night in the Tropics, The Beautiful Gelreesh, Boatman's Holiday, Botch Town, A Man of Light, The Green Word, Giant Land, Coffins on the River, Summer Afternoon, The Weight of Words, The Trentino Kid, and the title piece, The Empire of Ice Cream. With a conclusive analysis and detailing of each story in the form of an author note, The Empire Of Ice Cream is confidently recommended to fantasy enthusiasts, as well as (and most particularly) to those who have not yet discovered the literary talent and storytelling style of Jeffrey Ford.