Bandersnatch - Hardcover

Tremblay, Paul; Wallace, Sean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0809572664 ISBN 13: 9780809572663

Publisher: Wildside Press, 2007

Synopsis

• Rich in curiosity and virtue, poor in dirths of the imagination and the dull phrase, Bandersnatch in this dead trees edition, eschewing flesh-and-blood for pulp, deals in the currency of wonder and mystery.

About this title

Review

As most Lewis Carroll connoisseurs are aware, the word Bandersnatch appears in Carroll's nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" and denominates an otherwise undescribed, frumious mythical beast. For this distinctive anthology, the editors had Carroll's irreverent surrealism in mind when they asked contributors for their most avant-garde stories. In Alan DeNiro's "Taiga, Taiga, Burning Bright," an Alaskan bait peddler on the run from the law wrestles with talking polar bears and a mysterious creature known only as "the Restitution." In Vylar Kaftan's "Scar Stories," party guests who share their tales of physical and psychological disfigurement include the cat and the punch bowl. Carol Howell's "I Am Meyer" describes the seven dwarves' momentous decision to change their names, with Meyer becoming the new moniker for Bashful. Other tales recount a salamander's conversation with a tin can and a visit to Egypt by infamous necromancer Aleister Crowley. Readers looking for meaning or gripping plots may come away disappointed, but the authors' whimsical revelries with language and imagery provide mind-befuddling satisfaction. -- Booklist

It may or may not be frumious, but this original anthology from Tremblay (City Pier: Above & Below) and Wallace (Jabberwocky 2) positively revels in the "strange, dark, and unpredictable." Nearly all the 13 stories have both feet firmly in the avant-garde. Several tilt toward black-humored horror, and even the authors' bios run to the bizarre. Talking animals and strange landscapes abound, from the taiga and bears (but no lion) in Alan DeNiro's surreal opening tale "Taiga, Taiga, Burning Bright" to the genetic hybrids in Karen Heuler's "Down on the Farm," which concludes the volume by evoking both Poe and Orwell. Dogs in particular are well represented, figuring in Heuler's story as well as Ursula Pflug's "Border Crossing" and Bogdan Tiganov's "The Children." An iguana and a soda can trade quips in Seth Ellis's "The Sidewinders," and "Scar Stories" by Vylar Kaftan personifies a cat, a punchbowl and the party where they're present. This corner of the genre is very much an acquired taste, but for those who dig that funky groove, this anthology more than delivers what it promises. -- Publishers Weekly

From Publishers Weekly

It may or may not be frumious, but this original anthology from Tremblay (City Pier: Above & Below) and Wallace (Jabberwocky 2) positively revels in the strange, dark, and unpredictable. Nearly all the 13 stories have both feet firmly in the avant-garde. Several tilt toward black-humored horror, and even the authors' bios run to the bizarre. Talking animals and strange landscapes abound, from the taiga and bears (but no lion) in Alan DeNiro's surreal opening tale Taiga, Taiga, Burning Bright to the genetic hybrids in Karen Heuler's Down on the Farm, which concludes the volume by evoking both Poe and Orwell. Dogs in particular are well represented, figuring in Heuler's story as well as Ursula Pflug's Border Crossing and Bogdan Tiganov's The Children. An iguana and a soda can trade quips in Seth Ellis's The Sidewinders, and Scar Stories by Vylar Kaftan personifies a cat, a punchbowl and the party where they're present. This corner of the genre is very much an acquired taste, but for those who dig that funky groove, this anthology more than delivers what it promises. (Jan.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0809572664
• ISBN 13: 9780809572663
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 192