One Day Closer to Death: Eight Stabs at Immortality

by Bradley Denton

Bradley Denton, who grew up in Kansas and now proudly calls himself a Texan, is a modern master of oddball fantasy. Comparisons to fellow Texans Joe R. Lansdale and Howard Waldrop (and even, to jump across the Atlantic, to Jonathan Carroll) are perhaps inevitable, but Denton does his own thing. And he never repeats himself, either. If you haven't discovered him yet through such novels as Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede, Blackburn, or Lunatics, this collection is a great place to start. In a previous printing as a pair of small-press collections, six of these tales won the 1995 World Fantasy Award. Added into the mix are two new stories, including one that serves as a coda to the saga of Jimmy Blackburn (Blackburn).

"All the stories in this book," Denton says, "harassed me into writing them, but some of them literally gave me nightmares until I set them down on paper." One Day Closer to Death: Eight Stabs at Immortality is about living in the face of death--the toll it takes, the jokes we make. Each story is a unique dark gem that can't be summarized by a list of phrases--a self-destructive performance artist, the coyote "Trickster" of legend, black-pajama-wearing demons in a field of sorghum, Lenny Bruce and John Belushi in the afterlife--but those snatches at least hint at the variety of themes. What makes the book, though, is how Denton's earnest tone, as flat as the prairies of his childhood, can deliver deadpan humor in one sentence, and a serious, disturbing question in the next.

You can bet on it: this collection is going to be a classic. --Fiona Webster

Contents:
The Territory (1992)
Skidmore (1991)
Killing Weeds (1986)
Captain Coyote's Last Hunt (1990)
The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians (1988)
We Love Lydia Love (1994)
A Conflagration Artist (1994)
Blackburn Bakes Cookies (1998)

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror

337 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Bradley Clayton Denton (born 1958) is an American science fiction author. He has also written other types of fiction, such as the black comedy of his novel Blackburn, about a sympathetic serial killer.
He was born in Towanda, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence and graduated with degrees in astronomy (B.A.) and English (M.A.). His first published work was the short story "The Music of the Spheres," published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in March 1984. His collection The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians and A Conflagration Artist won the 1995 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Denton has never been a very prolific writer, but has been one of my favorites for a long time. His work is like one of those unusual culinary treats that you savor once a year or so. This book collects eight of his shorter works, including The Calvin Coolidge Home foe Dead Comedians, The Territory, and other good ones, including a Blackburn.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book at Borderlands Bookstore in San Fran. I had never heard of the author before, but the book just spoke to me. I really liked many of the stories in this short story compilation, especially the Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians which I thought was outstanding. I also thought many of the stories were different in their genres and themes. But when I came to the last story, Blackburn Bakes Cookies, I thought that one was just crap, both in the dialogue and the story idea, so I gave the whole book 3 stars. If not for the last story, it would have been higher.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo przyjemny zbiór opowiadań. Ciekawa, trochę odmienna lektura.

[Carl Palmateer]

Odd, strange, different, interesting, unsure

[Enrico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ricordo di averne letto una recensione entusiasta su Fangoria, alla fine degli anni Novanta, a libro fresco di stampa.
Qui in Italia di Denton Bompiani pubblicò «Blackburn» (da noi «La vittima numero 21»), come pubblicava Lansdale o Gifford. Ma col nuovo secolo sembra che Denton abbia smesso di scrivere; lo si trova su Facebook, oggi è un vecchio signore.
La versione ebook di «One day closer to death» arriva solo l'anno scorso (gli editori continuano un po' alla volta a convertire il catalogo): ho la scusa per togliermi la curiosità.
Gli ingredienti di Denton sono senso dell'umorismo puntuto, violenza cruenta, bontà d'animo e affettuosa comprensione per la pasticciata condizione umana, e l'uso di elementi fantastici come leva per cavare il tappo alle teste dei suoi protagonisti e svuotarle sulla pagina.
Tra gli otto racconti so che non dimenticherò «The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians». Denton mette in forma di satira perfida e combattiva, e rende sopportabile, un'idea che sconquassa: forse, dopo morti, scopriremo di avere avuto sempre ontologicamente torto. Scopriremo le convinzioni, i valori che ci hanno guidato, che abbiamo insegnato, per cui ci siamo scaraventati verso i conflitti lancia in resta e stomaco in gola, sono incompatibili con le fondamenta dell'universo, col tessuto che ne regge le leggi, e che hanno ragione gli altri, i persecutori, gli oppressori?
«“This facility specializes in the purification of those who have spent their lives trying to gain earthly rewards through the practice of so-called humor, which, rather than evoking the laughter of joy, instead appeals to the listeners’ prurient interest […] thus leading to the deterioration of the moral fabric of society […] Our therapy […] consists of teaching our residents those things their parents and peers failed to teach them—patience, politeness, obedience, reverence, decorum, piety, and chastity.” […] The way to move up the Hill, to get to a Better Place, was to resign oneself to an Eternity of white-bread complacency and ordinariness. To become a thing of flesh-colored clay.»
Cosa faremo, allora? Il protagonista di Denton, che qualcuno riconoscerà aver vissuto in Terra col nome Lenny Bruce, decide che se quelle sono le leggi dell'universo sbeffeggerà, disperatamente, l'universo.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first foray into the works of Bradley Denton. Of the eight "stabs", a few drag after intriguing starts and the rest fascinate all the way through. Standout stories include Skidmore, Killing Weeds and The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians. Captain Coyote's Last Hunt was seriously disturbing so I guess it succeeded in achieving the author's intent but I wouldn't want to read it again. I'll be looking for more Denton, for sure.

[Erin Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unexpectedly good read. I'm normally not an anthology fan, but I very much enjoyed the dry wit and sarcasm laced into each story, as well as the familiar Midwestern sensibility in the narratives. I'll definitely be checking out more of Denton's work, and recommending this book and probably the rest of what he's written to my friends.