Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories

by Jeffrey Ford

Book Overview

A collection that offers a diverse range of stories which deal with real-life conflicts, human values, and experiences. It includes such stories as: Bright Morning, Exo-Skeleton Town, and Creation. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193084610X
• ISBN13: 9781930846104
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant.

Again, Ford defies any and all conventions or genres and just does his thing - tell incredible stories that just leave you slack-jawed. Some are horror tales, some pure fantasy, and a couple sci-fi (more "fi" than "sci") for good measure, if they were to be categorized. Throughout, the tales are dreamlike. but instead of drifting apart in strange directions, they have their own unique logic and cohesion, amplified by Ford's mastery of language, cadence, and pure style. This is one hell of a gifted writer who's following his own muse. I'd throw out a couple comparisons to other writers, but there are none that are even in the same "zip code" as Ford. Excellent book.

A Superb Collection

Those who have been following Jeffrey Ford's career have been awaiting this collection eagerly. Ford's reputation has grown with each story published. Each of his novels has established his place as one of the premier genre authors of his time. Finally, the magnificent Golden Gryphon press brings us a collection of Ford's short stories, a collection packed with grade A fiction.Ford's fiction runs the gamut from the delicately beautifully to the wonderfully bizarre. The masterpiece 'Creation' explores a boy's relationship with his father against the backdrop of a man made out of logs he believes he's created in the forest. 'Creation' is a hauntingly beautiful story that is sure to be included on 2003 award ballets. 'Exo-Skeleton Town' takes place on an alien planet. The alien inhabitants are crazy about vintage movies, and trade balls of dung, which has aphrodisiac qualities, for copies of the movies. The few humans on the planet wear exo-suits (shaped to look like former film stars) to deal with the planet's atmospheric pressure. 'Exo-Skeleton Town' may be my favorite Ford story. Filled with lively and believable characters, magnificently odd plot twists and a touching conclusion. 'The Fantasy Writer's Assistant' tells the story of a best-selling fantasy writer who is losing his gift to 'see' into his created universe and turns it over to his assistant. The assistant learns that the characters in the universe are being exploited by the writer and tries to undo his damage. "Floating in Lindrethool" is a marvelous noirish story about a door-to-door salesman who tries to sell floating brains in a jar but inadvertently falls in love with one of them.You get the idea. Jeffrey Ford is a consumate storyteller, a master of the written word. This collection doesn't even display the full range of Ford's talent. He has written exquisite stories not included herein, currently available in _The Green Man_ and _Leviathan 3_, that I strongly urge you to read. Whether you've read Ford's stories previously or he's a complete unknown to you, this collection is one that you must read. It's not only one of the best genre collections of 2002, it's one of the best I've ever seen. Highly recommended.

Brillant

There are wonders here and nightmares. Like Mervyn Peake, much of Ford's fiction seems to have little in common with day to day reality, but beneath the surface you will find more relevance and more wisdon than in most realistic fiction. If you are a fan of Peake or Borges or Gene Wolfe there is much you will enjoy here.

Exquisite fantasy plots which excel in the surprise ending

Writer Ashmolean loses touch with his new fantasy world creation and must beg an assistant's aid in finishing the plot. Humans reenact old Hollywood stars and barter movies for an alien potion, and an interview with Jules Verne reveals some unexpected twists to his writings. These are all exquisite fantasy plots which excel in the surprise ending: wonderful examples of Ford's genius.

READING JEFFREY FORD

Reading Jeffrey Ford's stories in THE FANTASY WRITER'S ASSISTANT, brought back the excitement of the 1960's when we scanned the magazines for the latest Zelazny and Le Guinn, Disch and Wolfe and speculative fiction seemed to get remade every month. Ford is that fresh, that good. His range is big. In the hilarious title story, he devestates the extended fantasy series. BRIGHT MORNING dances with Kafka and the writer's life. FLOATING IN LINDRETHOOL, takes the tired 1940's noir film, slaps its cliches around and turns it back into something full of danger and heart. CREATION mixes The Catholic BALTIMORE CATECHISM and Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN with a bit of what I suspect is autobiography and produces an amazing father/son story. The technique is masterful. The uncanny arises effortlessly out of the ordinary in the New Jersey college compostion class of THE HONEYED KNOT. Of all the actors in the Hollywood pantheon, the narrator of EXO-SKELETON TOWN becomes Joseph Cotton! And it makes perfect, painful sense. THE WOMAN WHO COUNTS HER BREATH, begins with the narrator casually describing his minor monster of a mother-in-law and ends with chilling mortal combat.I don't know if Speculative Fiction is large enough to contain Jeffrey Ford for very long. But while it does, we have this book.