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Other Cities
No.6 in the Small Beer Press chapbook series is Benjamin Rosenbaum's Other Cities. Twelve of the stories in Other Cities were previously published as a weekly series on Strange Horizons. The entire series is presented here for the first time and each story is illustrated with the art of Boston artist and architect Peter Reiss.
Cities are seemingly inevitable, seductive, depressing, and inebriating. In his Other Cities series Benjamin Rosenbaum takes us on a tour of fourteen imaginary cities:
from "The White City" -- where two sisters fight one another and their fate -- to Bellur -- which celebrates its censors --
from Ponge -- that's already enough about that -- to Zvlotsk -- where by 1912 detective work accounted for a third of the economy
from Jouiselle-aux-Chantes -- the city of erotic forgetting -- to Stin -- the city for those who are tired of other cities --
Rosenbaum's stories illuminate the hidden corners of the world the train rider suspects exist at the stop after theirs, the tourist knows the locals will never reveal, and the mapmakers keep for themselves.
Cities are seemingly inevitable, seductive, depressing, and inebriating. In his Other Cities series Benjamin Rosenbaum takes us on a tour of fourteen imaginary cities:
from "The White City" -- where two sisters fight one another and their fate -- to Bellur -- which celebrates its censors --
from Ponge -- that's already enough about that -- to Zvlotsk -- where by 1912 detective work accounted for a third of the economy
from Jouiselle-aux-Chantes -- the city of erotic forgetting -- to Stin -- the city for those who are tired of other cities --
Rosenbaum's stories illuminate the hidden corners of the world the train rider suspects exist at the stop after theirs, the tourist knows the locals will never reveal, and the mapmakers keep for themselves.
48 pages, Chapbook
First published January 1, 2003
47 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Rosenbaum
73 books52 followersBenjamin Rosenbaum has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Sturgeon, and World Fantasy Awards. He is the author of _The Unraveling_, a queer far-future coming-of-age novel, the short story collection _The Ant King and Other Stories_, and the Ennie-nominated Jewish historical fantasy tabletop roleplaying game _Dream Apart_. His stories have been translated into 25 languages.
He is the co-host of the podcast _Mohanraj and Rosenbaum Are Humans_.
Originally from Arlington, VA, he lives near Basel, Switzerland with his wife and children.
Author photo (c) 2017 Portrait Playtime.
He is the co-host of the podcast _Mohanraj and Rosenbaum Are Humans_.
Originally from Arlington, VA, he lives near Basel, Switzerland with his wife and children.
Author photo (c) 2017 Portrait Playtime.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 11, 2014
A chapbook filled with windows to other cities, strange and wondrous, by an author who can be sly and reverent in turns. Some of these can be found online, but "The City of Peace" is worth the price of admission alone for the breathless, wonderful/horrible understanding it imparted.
Grin at the inclusion of Maxis; lose yourself in the description of "The White City"'s
Grin at the inclusion of Maxis; lose yourself in the description of "The White City"'s
...pious, dutiful Buromi who will run away to join the barbarians; who will ride at the side of the barbarian chieftain Chukrafideritochs; whose soft hands will wield merciless knives; whose quiet throat will erupt with the shrieking battle cry; whose virginal womb will bear the young of Chukrafideritochs, chiefs to be of the barbarians, sworn enemies of the white city.I was first introduced to this format by Lightman's Einstein's Dreams, and I guess "prose-poem collage" is the best label I can give it. The trick, I think, is to find a writer whose style leaves you yearning, and that's what I've done here.
Displaying 1 of 1 review