The Best of R. A. Lafferty

by R.A. Lafferty

Overview

Tor Essentials presents science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.

Acclaimed as one of the most original voices in modern literature, a winner of the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, Raphael Aloysius Lafferty (1914-2002) was an American original, a teller of acute, indescribably loopy tall tales whose work has been compared to that of Avram Davidson, Flannery O’Connor, Flann O’Brien, and Gene Wolfe.

The Best of R. A. Lafferty presents 22 of his best flights of offbeat imagination, ranging from classics like “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” and “The Primary Education of the Cameroi” to his Hugo Award-winning “Eurema’s Dam.”

Introduced by Neil Gaiman, the volume also contains story introductions and afterwords by, among many others, Michael Dirda, Samuel R. Delany, John Scalzi, Connie Willis, Jeff VanderMeer, Kelly Robson, Harlan Ellison, Michael Swanwick, Robert Silverberg, Neil Gaiman, and Patton Oswalt.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250778680
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/02/2021
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

R. A. Lafferty (1914-2002) lived almost his entire life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After service in the South Pacific during World War II, he worked as an electrical engineer. He began selling fiction regularly in the early 1960s, and went full-time as a writer in 1971. His work draws on many influences, ranging from Irish and Native American tales to the writings of St. Teresa of Avila. His novels include Past Master (1968), Fourth Mansions (1969), and the Native American historical Okla Hannali (1972).
R. A. Lafferty (1914-2002) lived almost his entire life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After service in the South Pacific during World War II, he worked as an electrical engineer. He began selling fiction regularly in the early 1960s, and went full-time as a writer in 1971. His work draws on many influences, ranging from Irish and Native American tales to the writings of St. Teresa of Avila. His novels include Past Master (1968), Fourth Mansions (1969), and the Native American historical Okla Hannali (1972).

Table of Contents

Not to Mention R. A. Lafferty: A Personal Introduction Neil Gaiman 9

Slow Tuesday Night (Introduction Michael Dirda) 13

Narrow Valley (Introduction Michael Swanwick) 22

Nor Limestone Islands (Introduction Michael Bishop) 34

Interurban Queen (Introduction Terry Bisson) 46

Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne (Introduction Jack Dann) 55

In Our Block (Introduction Neil Gaiman) 66

Ride a Tin Can (Introduction Neil Gaiman) 73

Nine Hundred Grandmothers (Introduction Patton Oswalt / Afterword Andy Duncan) 84

Land of the Great Horses (Introduction Harlan Ellison / Afterword Gregory Frost) 95

Eurema's Dam (Introduction Robert Silverberg) 105

Selenium Ghosts of the Eighteen Seventies (Introduction Kelly Robson) 115

The Primary Education of the Camiroi (Introduction Samuel R. Delany) 140

Continued on Next Rock (Introduction Nancy Kress / Afterword R. A. Lafferty) 153

Sky (Introduction Gwenda Bond) 174

Cliffs That Laughed (Introduction Gregory Feeley) 184

Seven-Day Terror (Introduction Connie Willis) 196

Boomer Flats (Introduction Cat Rambo) 203

Old Foot Forgot (Introduction John Scalzi) 218

The World as Will and Wallpaper (Introduction Samuel R. Delany) 228

Funnyfingers (Introduction Andrew Ferguson) 241

Thieving Bear Planet (Introduction Jeff VanderMeer) 254

Days of Grass, Days of Straw (Introduction Gary K. Wolfe) 269

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/09/2020

World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Lafferty (1914–2002) wrote the 22 stories of this distinguished collection in the 1960s and ’70s. Offbeat, usually joyful, and always a few steps beyond reality, these tales showcase Lafferty’s humanism and linguistic mastery. Lafferty lived most of his life in Oklahoma and drew on the U.S. Western and Native American tall-tale traditions for stories like “Narrow Valley,” which celebrates human decency and resilience. In Hugo winner “Eurema’s Dam,” Lafferty’s schlemiel inventor Albert hilariously and eerily forecasts today’s computer-centric world. “The Primary Education of the Camiroi,” presented as a report to a PTA, skewers self-serving and illogical leaps in education, like speed reading and curriculum overhauls; it even suggests that “a little constructive book burning, especially in the field of education” may be necessary for human progress. Each story is accompanied by an introduction by a noted contemporary science fiction author, among them Samuel R. Delany, Neil Gaiman, and Nancy Kress. In clever prose, Lafferty invites readers both to deplore human frailties and learn to laugh at them, resulting in a collection to reread and savor. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2021

R.A. Lafferty (1914–2002) was an influential short story writer of the "tall tales" school, who flourished in the 1960s through the 1980s. His work garnered a host of prestigious awards, but Lafferty was best known, and is still celebrated today, as a "writer's writer," for all the authors he inspired and influenced. This collection showcases the best of his stories, and features introductions and afterwords by writers he influenced, including Neil Gaiman, Robert Silverberg, Connie Willis, Kelly Robson, Nancy Kress, and John Scalzi. Kress's intro to "Continued on Next Rock" is particularly poignant, and the story stands out, as do "Eurema's Dam," "Sky," and "In Our Block," introduced by Gaiman. VERDICT The stories in this collection sum up the quintessential Lafferty, but the standouts in this volume are the heartfelt introductions. Readers wondering about this writer who influenced their current favorite authors, and those who have seen references to this influential author but are having difficulty finding his work, as much of it has gone out of print, will enjoy this collection.—Marlene Harris, Reading Reality, LLC, Duluth, GA

Library Journal