From Publishers Weekly
An expanded 10th anniversary edition of Poppy Z. Brite's modern horror classic, Lost Souls, which includes a "lost chapter" from the first draft, letters from Douglas E. Winter and correspondence with the original book's editor, Jeanne Cavalos, will please this author's cult audience.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"The largest, most comprehensive, and best anthology of American fantasy literature I have ever seen."—Terence Malley, editor of the Writers for the Seventies series
"A fine overview of some of the most important American fantasy written since Washington Irving right on up to our day. I highly recommend this fine collection."—Ray Bradbury
Book Description
The ancient tales of long-dead civilizations to the wild success of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, fantasy has fired our imaginations for as long as there has been story. Whether sweeping sagas of fantastic adventures or cautionary tales told around the campfire, fantasy is deeply woven into the very fabric of humanity, wearing many faces and coming in many flavors.
But what fantasy is distinctly American?
The American Fantasy Tradition sets out to answer this very question. This comprehensive critical anthology of American fantasy literature applies the groundbreaking theorems of such esteemed American literary critics as Leslie Fiedler, Richard Chase, and Irving Howe to the genre of fantasy in an effort to delineate the true American tradition of fantasy from the more prominent Anglo-European canon, breaking it down into three distinctive strains:
The American Tale: Folk, Tall, and Weird
Stories that might be considered fables or legends, much like the epics of the Age of Heroes from the classical eras of Rome and Greece, or the tales of the fairy folk from the European tradition, or the fables of Aesop.
Fantastic Americana
Stories set directly within the American historic landscape, much as the Arthurian tradition is set within the confines of British history.
Lands of Enchantment in Everyday Life
Stories that involve what might be called the American spirit, focusing on worlds that exist in the shadows of our own, just beyond Rod Serling’s famous signpost for The Twilight Zone.
About the Author
Brian M. Thomsen is a Tor Consulting editor who dropped out of pursuing a Ph.D. in English in favor of a career in publishing. He was one of the founding editors of Warner/Popular Library's Questar Science Fiction & Fantasy line, and the editor of C.J.Cherryh's Hugo Award winning novel Cyteen. He has also been a Hugo nominee, has served as a World Fantasy Award judge, and is the author of two novels and numerous short stories for such publishers as Tor, Daw, Ace, TSR, and others.
He was born in the borough of Brooklyn where he currently resides with his wife, Donna, and two talented cats named Sparky and Minx.
The American Fantasy Tradition FROM THE PUBLISHER
The ancient tales of long-dead civilizations to the wild success of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, fantasy has fired our imaginations for as long as there has been story. Whether sweeping sagas of fantastic adventures or cautionary tales told around the campfire, fantasy is deeply woven into the very fabric of humanity, wearing many faces and coming in many flavors.
But what fantasy is distinctly American?
The American Fantasy Tradition sets out to answer this very question. This comprehensive critical anthology of American fantasy literature applies the groundbreaking theorems of such esteemed American literary critics as Leslie Fiedler, Richard Chase, and Irving Howe to the genre of fantasy in an effort to delineate the true American tradition of fantasy from the more prominent Anglo-European canon, breaking it down into three distinctive strains:
The American Tale: Folk, Tall, and Weird
Stories that might be considered fables or legends, much like the epics of the Age of Heroes from the classical eras of Rome and Greece, or the tales of the fairy folk from the European tradition, or the fables of Aesop.
Fantastic Americana
Stories set directly within the American historic landscape, much as the Arthurian tradition is set within the confines of British history.
Lands of Enchantment in Everyday Life
Stories that involve what might be called the American spirit, focusing on worlds that exist in the shadows of our own, just beyond Rod Serling's famous signpost for The Twilight Zone.
FROM THE CRITICS
KLIATT - Hugh Flick, Jr.
This interesting anthology of tales has stories by many well-known American authors (including Irving, Hawthorne, Alcott, Lovecraft, Jackson, King, Le Guin, Henry James, Mark Twain, Stockton, and L. Frank Baum) as well as by some little-known writers. The writers are all Americans, but not all fantastic literature written by Americans is represented. The editor employs a fairly restrictive description of American Fantasy Tradition as incorporating "the frontier legacies of the pioneers complete with their heroism and adventure as well as with its sense of danger and primitive savagery" and "the egalitarian vision of democracy, the self-made man, and the American dream with the harsh realities of both the rural and urban wildernesses." Under the parameters of this description, "for the most part, the American fantasy hero is an everyday person with everyday concerns." Some of the tales in this fine collection are familiar and some are obscure, but all of them are enjoyable reading. KLIATT Codes: SA-Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Tor, 604p. bibliog., Ages 15 to adult.
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