The Complete Butcher's Tales

By Rikki Ducornet

Book Overview

In the fantastic tradition of Borges, Bruno Schulz, Angela Carter, and H. P. Lovecarft, here are nearly sixty unforgettable stories that ignore the confines of space and time to offer, among other times and places: a cabinet of curiosities in contemporary Cairo, an alchemical ceiling in 18th-century Naples, the hallucinatory inner worlds of psychotics, anthropomorphic planets, and an Old West ruled by necromancy. Thirty of these tales were published in a limited edition by a small Canadian publisher in 1980. This expanded, revised edition collects the complete short stories of one of the most imaginative writers of our time.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1564780430
• ISBN13: 9781564780430
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
• Length: 162 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Imaginative, disturbing, disorienting ... and uneven

The back of this book includes the description "In the fantastic tradition of Borges, Bruno Schulz, Angela Carter, and H. P. Lovecraft ..." This is a reasonable description of this collection of stories ranging from superb to interesting failures. Examples:Missy is a tale of children's cruelty to each other in the context of an invitation to a birthday party for the purpose of humiliating a guest. This story has a touch of voodoo.Two stories (Friendship and The Double) deal with the growth of doubles - one growing from an apparent tumor, the other growing from feet which detached themselves from their original body.Replacement of / detaching of heads is another common motif e.g.Aunt Rose and Uncle Friedle.Alchemy, murder, sex, shoes all make multiple appearences - used equally in humor and horror.A few of the stories carry serious meaning i.e. "Saida" which is dedicated to Salman Rushdie which explores religious rigidity; or A Lunatic's Apprentice which spoofs gullibility and false religiosity.Many of the stories, however, are merely well written insights into Ducornet's imagination. Or, put another way, the collection has more Lovecraft and less Schulz than I would prefer. Nonetheless, I will watch for additional short fiction by this inventive author.