Fantastic Women: 18 Tales of the Surreal and the Sublime from Tin House

by Rob Spillman, Joy Williams (Introduction)

Featuring work by some of the most exciting contemporary women writers in the United States, Fantastic Women comprises eighteen inventive, insightful narratives steeped in a heady potion of surrealism and macabre black comedy.

Meet the daughters of Franz Kafka, Mary Shelley, the Brothers Grimm, and Angela Carter. Fantastic Women assembles the work of eighteen inventive, insightful women authors who steep their narratives in a heady potion of surrealism and macabre black comedy. The results are wildly creative stories that capture the truth about human nature far more than much of the fiction (or, for that matter, the nonfiction) being written today. Why just women? More and more women writers are creating work that not only pushes the envelope but also folds realistic fiction into an origami dragon, transporting readers into worlds we’ve never seen before and digging deeper into the psychic bedrock than their male counterparts. So slip into a pocket universe, drive through a family’s home, awake in the night to find you’ve become a deer, and dive into the ocean to join your mermaid mother. We can’t imagine ever wanting to escape this spellbinding world, but if you must, best leave a trail of crumbs along your way.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Anthologies, Feminism, Literature, Female Authors

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 26, 2011

About the author

Rob Spillman is Editor and co-founder of Tin House, a sixteen-year-old bi-coastal (Brooklyn, New York and Portland, Oregon) literary magazine. He is the 2015 recipient of the PEN/Nora Magid Award for Editing as well as the 2015 VIDO Award from VIDA. Tin House is the recipient of the 2015 Firecracker Award for General Excellence and has been honored in Best American Stories, Best American Essays, Best American Poetry, O’Henry Prize Stories, the Pushcart Prize Anthology and numerous other anthologies. He is also the Executive Editor of Tin House Books and co-founder of the Tin House Summer Workshop, now in its thirteenth year. His writing has appeared in BookForum, the Boston Review, Connoisseur, Details, GQ, Guernica, Nerve, the New York Times Book Review, Rolling Stone, Salon, Spin, Sports Illustrated, Time, Vanity Fair, Vogue, among other magazines, newspapers, and essay collections. He is also the editor of Gods and Soldiers: the Penguin Anthology of Contemporary African Writing, which was published in 2009. He is on the board of CLMP (the Community of Literary Magazines and Small Presses), the Brooklyn Book Festival Literary Council, Narrative4, and is the Chair of PEN’s Membership Committee. He has guest taught at universities around the world, including Queensland University in Brisbane, the Farafina Workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, the SLS Workshops in St. Petersburg, Russia and Nairobi, Kenya, the Catholic University of Santiago, Chile, the University of Florida, New York University, Brooklyn College, Amherst, Williams, and is currently a lecturer at Columbia University. His memoir, All Tomorrow’s Parties, will be published by Grove Press in April, 2016.

Reviews

[jess]

Dear Future Self,
You think you will really like this book based on the description and the authors involved, but you won't like it.
Sincerely,
Jess of July 2012

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
More surreally slightly creepy feminist (?) short stories! Best ones are toward the end.

[Benjamin]

This is a case of "exactly what it says on the tin": this is a collection of 18 surreal(ish), slipstream(ish) stories prominently featuring women. (Though I don't think many of these stories passes the Bechdel test. You may have read something by these authors before and you may be interested in finding or avoiding them; so as a public service (since Goodreads doesn't tel us), here's the contents:

Aimee Bender, “Americca”
Kate Bernheimer, “Whitework”
Judy Budnitz, “Abroad”
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, “The Young Wife’s Tale”
Lucy Corin, “The Entire Predicament”
Lydia Davis, “Five Fictions in the Middle of the Night”
Rikki Ducornet, “The Dickmare”
Julia Elliott, “The Wilds”
Samantha Hunt, “Beast”
Miranda July, “Oranges”
Kelly Link, “Light”
Lydia Millet, “Snow White, Rose Red”
Alissa Nutting, “Hot, Fast, and Sad”
Gina Ochsner, “Song of the Selkie”
Stacey Richter, “The Doll Awakens”
Karen Russell, “The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach”
Julia Slavin, “Drive-Through House”
Gina Zucker, “Big People"

I'll also tell you that the introduction by Joy Williams does just about everything wrong an introduction can do for something like this: while she does add some interesting analysis and patterns that she notices, she also spends most of the time summarizing the stories, which is helpful with an anthology of essays, but less so when an anthology of stories. It might be better off as an afterword--"what we learn about women after playing with the fantastic."

As an anthology, it's somewhat hard to review because it's uneven. That said, I trust the people who might be interested in this will go out and find it regardless (hopefully) of what I say; which is good because I hope someone out there reads this and likes it, since I did not so much. Every story probably has one good element in it--even one good quote. For instance, Budnitz's "Abroad" plays with the increasingly absurd number of friends a husband invites back to his hotel room, pushing his wife further and further away. It's a funny image, which might be heart-breaking if there were any heart in it.

Kelly Link's "Light" is probably the best story of the collection, throwing an enormous amount of weirdness into one tale: people born with two shadows, strangers sleeping their lives away, pocket universes you can reach through portals. There, the weirdness feels weird but pregnant with meaning, whereas the weird in many other stories merely seems like a metaphor or a gimmick.

Worse, very few of the stories as stories has any completeness or shape, dissolving at the end towards a soupy shrug. This may seem paradoxical, but I follow Rene Magritte in thinking that surrealism has to be underpinned by some structure, if only the structure of dreams. Only a few stories here--like Slavin's "Drive-Thru House"--approach that territory.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting plot devices and situations, but I wanted a little more experimental narrative. Many of the stories seemed to deliver "strange" plots in exactly the same way as traditional fiction, but I'd like to see surreal content take a surreal form.

[Bill Hsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to see recent stories from Budnitz, Richter and Slavin; I really enjoyed their collections years ago, always wondering what they've been up to. The Elliot, Link and Nutting pieces are great, but also included in their last collections (all favorites of mine).

[Alannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great anthology premise but I only ended up liking half of the stories. My favorites: Americca by Aimee Bender, Abroad by Judy Budnitz, The Wilds by Julia Elliott, Song of the Selkirk by Gina Oschner, and The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach by Karen Russell

[Frances Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and surreal- a must read for anyone who enjoys the peculiar.

[Erin Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so interesting. There were only a few stories I didn't care for but the rest were totally unique and engrossing. My favorites were The Wilds, Light, and The Doll Awakens.

[Gabi Yuan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.7/5, Average read

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best story collections I've read in a while--a lot of weird, fantastic things (werewolves, aliens, metamorphoses, living dolls, etc. etc.) are in here, done in a literary, beautiful, and surprising way.

some of my favorite quotes from the stories:
"ABROAD," BY JUDY BUDNITZ
"There was a long slice of window that ran from floor to ceiling and showed us the spires and towers and crested weather vanes of a city we had never seen before.
It's just a travel poster, he said and tried to scrape off a corner." (pg 22)

"THE YOUNG WIFE'S TALE," BY SARAH SHUN-LIEN BYNUM
"More likely, more tormenting, the dream continued, and she had simply been ejected from it." (pg 48)

"THE DICKMARE," BY RIKKI DUCORNET
*** This one is one of my ultimate favs. ***
"After all, the Dickmares are known to unspool and push their pistons forward with such alacrity a subconincal cavity will be stunned into service before it has a chance to ignite" (pg 68)

"Is she afflicted enough to dare seek out a questionable success with an Upper Mudder known to be sensuous, furious, and cruel? And she so fragile! So amply furnished with tender sockets and delicate rosettes rotundular and soft. Yes, above all she is soft. And so easily impressed!" (pg 69)

"BEAST," BY SAMANTHA HUNT
"When my sister had her second baby a couple months ago I told her, 'That's Weird."
'What is?' she asked.
'You just made another death in the world.'" (pg 99)

"LIGHT," BY KELLY LINK
"Ha," she said, experimentally." (pg 118)

"THE SEAGULL ARMY DESCENDS ON STRONG BEACH," BY KAREN RUSSELL
"The gulls must have stolen this stuff a while ago, Nal thought, from a future that was now peeling away in ribbons, a future that had already been perverted or lost, a past." (pg 218)

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of uncanny and weird tales from talented women writers--what more could you ever want? I must admit that despite this great premise for a collection, I was actually left wanting. The pacing of the stories is slow, especially at the first 1/3 of the book, and I wanted more fantastic/magical realism elements than this anthology offered. Perhaps that's more of a personal taste thing than an actual issue with this publication, but I would've liked to see fantastic in every sense--not just odd, strange and unbelievable but awe-inspiring, exuberant, inexplicable.

All that being said: there were 18 stories collected. Of those, I loved 1/3 (6 stories). I'd read 3 of those stories elsewhere before, so I removed them from the count. That left me with 1/6 of the book that I truly enjoyed for the first time.

That's not to say don't read this collection; overall, the stories collected within are solid and interesting, even if they weren't quite my cup of tea.

Three stories I discovered reading this book: "The Wilds" by Julia Elliott, "Song of the Selkie" by Gina Ochsner, "Light" by Kelly Link [Link's story alone is worth the price of the book--amazing!]

Three stories I'd read before and still love:
"Snow White, Rose Red" by Lydia Millet, "Hot, Fast, and Sad" by Alissa Nutting, and "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach" by Karen Russell.

Recommended to: the uncanny and weird fans who like less fantasy and science and more unexplained horizons, any surrealist, and fans of HP Lovecraft's lesser known works

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection entirely comprised of up-and-coming (and firmly established) female writers of fantastical, fabulist, and, well...weird fiction. I loved the presentation and careful curation of this book--clearly exciting things are happening at Tin House. Some of the bigger names (Lydia Davis; Miranda July) were represented by fairly slight (dare I say lazy?) pieces, but there were plenty of other gems and new writers to discover. A few stories tended towards the fey or overly cute--always a risk of this genre--but there was enough unsettling, and indeed, unfeminine, weirdness to go around. I also think the tone of fantastic fiction lends itself well to describe coming-of-age journeys: a freakish time, indeed.

Particular favorites:

Aimee Bender's "Americca"
Judy Budnitz's "Abroad"
Julia Elliott's "The Wilds"
Samantha Hunt's "Beast"
Kelly Link's "Light"
Lydia Millet's "Snow White, Rose Red"
Alissa Nutting's "Hot, Fast, and Sad"
Stacey Richter's "The Doll Awakens"
Karen Russell's "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach" (my favorite)
Gina Zucker's "Big People"

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the public library on an inter-library loan. It's not the best way to read this kind of collection. It's best taken in small doses, one story at a sitting. Otherwise they lose their edge, and they are edgy stories.

A collection of stories is like a music album. You aren't going to like each selection equally. If there are two or three you really like, a couple of ones you don't care for and the rest are good or OK, the collection is worthwhile. Of the 18 stories, I really liked five, another six were good, two were alright, three I didn't care for, and two I totally skipped. So I consider it a successful collection.

If it were my book, I would lay it aside and give some of the stories I didn't care for a second chance, but it's due tomorrow so back it goes. Maybe I'll buy a copy.

And I would like to read something else by some of these authors.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is where literary meets genre, and the impact is sometimes mystifying, sometimes breath-taking, and always beautifully written. These stories demand an active reader, it's tough for me to read more than one a night, and some of them have given me vivid dreams. Highly recommended, but don't expect to read this easily. These stories require your attention in ways standard genre does not. I guarantee this book is not for everyone.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be similar to "My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me." In both cases, the stories are creative and well-written. In fact, I would give some stories in this book 4-5 stars. If you like this genre, then you will like this book. It's just not my thing.

Quote
"His eyes said he understood all the sadness in the world, and his worn face said he would do everything in his power to defeat it." The Young Wife's Tale by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Bernheimer's "Whitework" is perfection.

Other favorites include "Beast" by Samantha Hunt and "Big People" by Gina Zucker. Karen Russell's "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach" was a lot of fun to read, though I couldn't understand the meaning of the ending. Likely my own shortcoming.

I'm not a short story person, but this collection kept me entertained during snatches of down-time at work.

[Joseph Hillenbrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contains some of my favorite authors (Alissa Nutting, Miranda July among others), but overall I found the stories very hit or miss. Although I enjoy stories that are surreal, that make you a bit uncomfortable, as a reader, you still need some sort of mooring. Something you can still relate to, unless the story is so short that it doesn't matter. But for some of these stories, I had a tough time keeping my bearing

[Amanda]

An interesting collection of short stories. All of them are strange, a few are disturbing, one or two took most of the story before I realized just what was going on, and some just dropped off and left me asking "Then what happened?" with no distinct ending. I definitely see myself going back for a reread.

[Paul Andrew Russell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously, I wouldn't bother. Only two of the stories held my attention for more than a couple of pages.

The Doll Awakens by Stacey Richter was one. The other, Snow White, Rose Red by Lydia Millet.

I found reading the rest to be sheer torture.

[Erin Tuzuner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tin House never fails to bring intelligent, peculiar and thoroughly moving literature together for a feast of diverse, yet complementary stories. Never have I been transformed in such a short period of time. Haunting, inventive and most of all, lasting, these stories are a beautiful snowstorm.

[Andrea Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, intensely imaginative - all 18 of the stories. But not for the faint of heart. In Ursula Le Guin's back-cover blurb, where she says the stories are often "subtly disturbing," I think she could have dropped the "subtly."

[Amy Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impulse checked out from the library on my kindle since Tin House is a small press and I wanted to find a new author. My favorite was Karen Russell's, The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach. I didn't like quite a few of the stories but I expected that.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the bizarre tales in this book. Some were merely enjoyable, others I read and reread until the library made me return the text. Some great lines in this book. Highly recommended.

[Tantra Bensko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great choices, and a helpful book for people looking to round out their favorite authors to include women. There are great ones out there, just harder to find because of less attention on them. This is a perfect place to start looking.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this book was an anthology of tales by different authors, I liked some stories better than others, but it was fun to read literary stories with female characters and an altered-reality slant. My favorites included Americca, The Wilds, Oranges, and Snow White, Rose Red.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

well written but none of the stories really pulled me in.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite story (though I didn't read them all) was Aimee Bender's "Americca."

[Emmanuelle Noble-Fitzpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reeeeally odd, but reeeeally good!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of fantasy fiction with a touch of sci-fi. I like the story of sisters whose home has small gifts magically appear on their table and their kitchen mysteriously filled with food.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

found some authors I definitely want to read more of