The best of Gene Wolfe : a definitive retrospective of his finest short fiction

From a literary perspective, this will certainly be the best collection of the year in science fiction and fantasy. Gene Wolfe, of whom The Washington Post said, “Of all SF writers currently active none is held in higher esteem,” has selected the short fiction he considers his finest into one volume. There are many award winners and many that have been selected for various Year’s Best anthologies among the thirty-one stories, which include: “Petting Zoo,” “The Tree Is My Hat,” “The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories,” “The Hero as Werewolf,” “Seven American Nights,” “The Fifth Head of Cerberus,” “The Detective of Dreams,” and “A Cabin on the Coast.” Gene Wolfe has produced possibly the finest and most significant body of short fiction in the SF and fantasy field in the last fifty years, and is certainly among the greatest living writers to emerge from the genres. This is the first retrospective collection of his entire career. It is for the ages. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.From BooklistThirty-one stories by the most distinguished creator of literary sf makes for a pretty indispensable volume. Of course, “The Fifth Head of Cerberus” and “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories”—recognized as classics for many years now—are here. So are such objects of amused contemplation (on account of their titles) well before they are read (and as amusedly enjoyed) as “The Hero as Werewolf,” “The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton” (steampunk with more than one difference), “Seven American Nights” (an account of archaeology of the future), and “Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon?” written in homage to the witty Catholic sf (and historical) novelist R. A. Lafferty (1914–2002). Each of those and the rest of these stories characteristically begin at a point from which Wolfe diverges in a number of different directions—with just how many depending, surprisingly enough, on the particular reader. By the time one has, preferably slowly, digested Wolfe’s creativity, one could be humming Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Things Are Seldom What They Seem” and rejoicingly remarking, “with Wolfe, too.” --Roland Green ReviewPraise for Gene Wolfe:"If any writer from within genre fiction ever merited the designation Great Author, it is surely Wolfe...[who] reads like Dickens, Proust, Kipling, Chesterton, Borges, and Nabokov rolled into one.” \*--The Washington Post Book World“One of the literary giants of science fiction.”--The Denver Post“Gene Wolfe is as good a writer as there is today.... I feel a little bit like a musical contemporary attempting to tell people what’s good about Mozart.”--The Chicago Sun Times\* From a literary perspective, this will certainly be the best collection of the year in science fiction and fantasy. Gene Wolfe, of whom The Washington Post said, Of all SF writers currently active none is held in higher esteem, has selected the short fiction he considers his finest into one volume. There are many award winners and many that have been selected for various Years Best anthologies among the thirty-one stories, which include: Petting Zoo, The Tree Is My Hat, The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories, The Hero as Werewolf, Seven American Nights, The Fifth Head of Cerberus, The Detective of Dreams, and A Cabin on the Coast. Gene Wolfe has produced possibly the finest and most significant body of short fiction in the SF and fantasy field in the last fifty years, and is certainly among the greatest living writers to emerge from the genres. This is the first retrospective collection of his entire career. It is for the ages. Contents The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories (1970) The Toy Theater (1971) The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972) Beech Hill (1972) The Recording (1972) Hour of Trust (1973) The Death of Dr. Island (1973) La Befana (1973) Forlesen (1974) Westwind (1973) The Hero as Werwolf (1975) The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton (1977) Straw (1975) The Eyeflash Miracles (1976) Seven American Nights (1978) The Detective of Dreams (1980) Kevin Malone (1980) The God and His Man (1980) On the Train [Redwood Coast Roamer] (1983) From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton (1983) Death of the Island Doctor (1983) Redbeard (1984) The Boy Who Hooked the Sun (1985) ParkroadsA Review (1987) Game in the Pope's Head (1988) And When They Appear (1993) Bed and Breakfast (1996) (variant of Bed & Breakfast) Petting Zoo (1997) The Tree Is My Hat (1999) Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon? (1999) A Cabin on the Coast (1984)

The best stories of a long and influential career by “quite simply a superb writer” (The Washington Post Book World)

Publishers Weekly

In these 31 self-selected stories, Wolfe (An Evil Guest) mixes pulp adventure, ghost stories and noir with self-reference, meta-fiction, unreliable narrators and puns. His protagonists faces threats both modern (political correctness in Petting Zoo, corporate capitalism in Hour of Trust) and eternal (sexual temptation in Bed and Breakfast) and learn to trust fantasy over fact (The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories, And When They Appear). Sincere tributes to the Gospels (The Detective of Dreams), G.K. Chesterton (Westwind) and R.A. Lafferty (Has Anyone Seen Junie Moon?) bring out Wolfe's sentimental side, though he proves equally capable of satirizing American self-righteousness (Seven American Nights) or affectionately teasing his contemporaries (From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton). The result is a highly flattering career retrospective of a postmodern fabulist disguised as a mild-mannered SF writer. (Mar.)

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An anthology of thirty-one signature short works by the winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement includes "Petting Zoo," "The Tree Is My Hat," and "The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories." Written by the author who has produced possibly one of the finest and most significant body of short fiction in the SF and fantasy field, this book presents a retrospective collection of his entire career.