Other Stories and ... The Attack of the Giant Baby

by Kit Reed

Winter --
The vine --
Winston --
The food farm --
Songs of war --
Pilots of the purple twilight --
The thing at Wedgerley --
Gran --
Death of a monster --
Cynosure --
Across the bar --
Empty nest --
In behalf of the product --
The attack of the giant baby --
The wandering gentile --
Moon.

Genres: Science Fiction, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy

215 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1981

About the author

Kit Reed was an American author of both speculative fiction and literary fiction, as well as psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Kit Craig.

Her 2013 "best-of" collection, The Story Until Now, A Great Big Book of Stories was a 2013 Shirley Jackson Award nominee. A Guggenheim fellow, she was the first American recipient of an international literary grant from the Abraham Woursell Foundation. She's had stories in, among others, The Yale Review, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Omni and The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Literature. Her books Weird Women, Wired Women and Little Sisters of the Apocalypse were finalists for the Tiptree Prize. A member of the board of the Authors League Fund, she served as Resident Writer at Wesleyan University.

Reviews

[Joshua Hair · Rating 5 out of 5]

R.I.P. Miss Reed. It is an odd thing to me that a little-known collection such as this would become one of my all-time favorite short story collections. Most times there are a few stinkers in the bunch; not here, I'm happy to say. Every story pulls you along with its strange humor, quiet horror, and understated implications. Based upon the cover (which, by the way, is wonderful) I assumed this would be another cheesy eighties collection of decent but forgettable stories. I will not forget these, nor will I forget Miss Reed. I can't wait to begin reading her other work.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books I pick up and re-read every few years. And it has the distinction of being one of very few books I've loaned that's been returned. The collection of stories runs the gamut of sci-fi topics from creepy plant life to weird old ladies, but each story has a fresh, original feel. "Cynosure" is my favorite, about a hapless divorced housewife trying to keep up with the Joneses in a new neighborhood.
An enjoyable diversion.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I read this book in 1981 or thereabouts in a mad phase of horror short story reading, but the stories have stayed with me ever since, tugging at my hemline or unexpectedly poking at my subconscious ever since. I expected campy but got something entirely different. If you've never read Kit Reed, start here... especially connoisseurs of the short story.

[Carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorites: Winston, Gran, Cynosure.