Fancies and Goodnights Vol 2

by John Collier

This volume contains all John Collier's short stories not found in Fancies and Goodnights. Playful and wickedly mischievous, these short stories will reappear in your memory, and make you smile, or laugh, or sigh, long after the title and author are forgotten.

Talking gorillas posing as writers, hairy fiends dressed as parsons, angels and devils invading the human realm, tricks and turns, a murder committed with chocolates, an unforgettable, dreadful cat, and a love story as beautiful as a symphony are all included in this collection of John Collier's brilliantly structured and perfectly crafted tales.

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

John Collier was a British-born author and screenplay writer best known for his short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker from the 1930s to the 1950s. They were collected in a 1951 volume, Fancies and Goodnights, which is still in print. Individual stories are frequently anthologized in fantasy collections. John Collier's writing has been praised by authors such as Anthony Burgess, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman and Paul Theroux. He was married to early silent film actress Shirley Palmer.

Reviews

[Paul O’Neill · Rating 2 out of 5]

After rating the first volume 5 stars, this one didn't hit the same highs.

Still well worth a read. The stories Are Your Too Early or Was I Too Late, Interpretation of a Dream, Mary, and the surprisingly horrific The Tender Age are all immense. Everything else was rather easy to forget.

Check out Vol 1 instead, especially if you enjoy Mark Twain or Terry Pratchett.