Don't Dream; The Collected Horror and Fantasy of Donald Wandrei

Wandrei, Donald

ISBN 10: 1878252275 / ISBN 13: 9781878252272

Published by Fedogan and Bremer, Minneapolis, 1997

Edited by Philip J. Rahman and Dennis E. Weiler. Illustrations by Rodger Gerberding. Fine in a Fine dust jacket, unclipped ($29.00). Black cloth with gilt lettering on the spine. Square and firmly bound, clean internally. An extensive survey of Wandrei's well-known horror and fantasy stories, with some previously unpublished material. Seller Inventory # 17248

Synopsis:

Fritz Leiber remarked "At the time that Lovecraft died, Donald Wandrei was the most natural successor to him that I could think of."

Robert Bloch called him ..".on of the most important creative talents in the Lovecraft circle..."

Surpisingly, however, his work was out-of-print for many years, after his break with Arkham House in the aftermath of co-founder August Derleth. This 416-page tome includes stories originally published in venues including Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, Fantasy Magazine, Argosy, and Esquire; some from The Minnesota Quarterly, and a number of pieces never published before this book was assembled.

Here the reader can revel in the weird imagination of Donald Wandrei without collecting dozens of rare and scattered pulps or buying rare Arkham House volumes. Supplemented by non-fiction discussion by those who knew him, and introduced by the author's neighbor, Don't Dream complements Colossus (Wandrei's science fiction-- though the boundaries were fuzzy during the Golden Age!) to form a broad survey-- arguably the best of his fiction.

Reviews: In 1939, Wandrei cofounded Arkham House to publish the work of H.P. Lovecraft. But he also was a writer of sf, horror, and fantasy for the pulp magazines Weird Tales and Astounding Stories. In a companion volume to Colossus: The Collected Science Fiction of Donald Wandrei (Fedogan & Bremer, 1989), editors Philip J. Rahman and Dennis E. Weiler have rescued from obscurity Wandrei's published and unpublished horror and fantasy short fiction, prose poems, essays, and marginalia. Don't Dream contains traditional supernatural horror stories, lighthearted fantasy tales, non-science oriented science fiction, and his short "dream" mood pieces. While some of his pseudo-science is now dated, Wandrei's imaginative use of language renders his fiction worthy of new reading 60 years after it was first published. Highly recommended for libraries lacking the out-of-print collections The Eye and the Finger (1944) and Strange Harvest
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wandrei (1908^-87) is best known in sf and fantasy circles for his long litigation over the rights to the H. P. Lovecraft estate, but he deserves to be remembered for much more. That includes the substantial body of horror and fantasy fiction laboriously collected here. Much of it reflects Lovecraft's influence, some of it Poe's. Most of it reflects in its grace and inventiveness of language that Wandrei was also a poet of some distinction. Especially noteworthy stories herein are the lighthearted title piece, "The Tree-Men of Bwa," "Giant-Plasm," and "The Man Who Never Lived." Some dozen prose poems and an essay also appear, and D. H. Olson contributes a history of the Lovecraft litigation that is favorable to Wandrei but not uncritical. This labor of love by its editors invaluably showcases an author who has unfortunately nearly vanished into obscurity. It is a treat for readers and a treasure for scholars. Roland Green

Bibliographic Details

Title: Don't Dream; The Collected Horror and ...
Publisher: Fedogan and Bremer, Minneapolis
Publication Date: 1997
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
Edition: First Edition.