Long Story Short: Short Stories For Long Winter Days
C. S. Lewis wrote that you couldn't get him a book long enough or a cup of tea big enough. I see where he was coming from, but during the busy holiday season, and the slow aftermath, there are moments when nothing but a short story will do. Not every story in these collections worked for me, but the ones that did keep me rereading them and looking for more from these excellent writers.
"Midnights," "The Fox and the Lady," and "Jenny Han's" story are my favorites in this holiday themed collection of short love stories, but there are several other great ones herein.
One of my favorite things about Gaiman's story collections is that he writes a story in the introduction, and in this collection, that story, "The Wedding Present," is my favorite of his ever. So far. Some of these should be handled with care, and some shouldn't be read by those sensitive to graphic material. Don't say I didn't warn you.
From three great writers of dark fantasy and horror, this story collection also features author notes on each story about how the stories came to be, as well as the authors comments on one another's work.
I am not going to try to write in the style of Saunders. I will say Fox 8 made me think about how communication works, how the natural world is altered by human interaction with it, and how not acknowledging the poetic power of words set slant harms us all. This, in 48 pages. A slender gold bar.