Reviews

This first collection of short stories and novellas from acclaimed fantasy writer Carroll (From the Teeth of Angels, LJ 4/1/94) includes "Friend's Best Man," winner of the World Fantasy Award. Carroll's stories often begin in an upbeat, conversational manner, with a realistic plot structure that gives way to an odd, sometimes humorous, sometimes ominous, twist. They exhibit quirky pattern: first-person narrators have a breezy, positive tone, while third-person stories usually have a sinister edge. Dogs often figure prominently, as do manifestations of God or the devil. Carroll's work bridges realism and fantasy, which may pose problems for some readers. With his new slant on what we perceive as the "real world," Carroll doesn't create an alternate reality, as is the case in many fantasies, and readers looking for realistic fiction may feel cheated when an interesting plot is resolved by a gimmicky twist. Those looking for fantasy, however, will be satisfied. Recommended for most fantasy collections.-Reba Leiding, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, N.Y.

Carroll (From the Teeth of Angels) has a high reputation in literary SF and fantasy circles. This collection of 20 pieces of his short fiction suggests that it is well deserved. He has a conspicuous knack for giving new dimensions to venerable themes. "Friend's Best Man," which won a World Fantasy Award in 1987, offers a new take on the revolt of the animals. "Uh-Oh City" does marvelous things with the Jewish folkloric concept of the 36 Just Men on whom the world depends. "Black Cocktail" explores, in sometimes grisly detail, not merely the group mind but the group soul. The title story is a chilling exploration of a handicapped child's use of alter egos to explore, among other things, adult sexuality. The narrator of "The Sadness of Detail" sits down in her favorite cafe, only to be interrupted by a stranger who shows her photographs of her husband and son in the future and tells her how she can alter their destinies‘and her own. Carroll's stories are tightly focused, with hardly an ill-chosen or misplaced word. They are distinguished by a powerfully haunting quality that derives from a deceptively simple combination of fantastic events related in the easy voice of a raconteur telling simple anecdotes. (Nov.)