The Empire of Ice Cream

by Jeffrey Ford, Jonathan Carroll (Introduction)

Mixing the mundane with the metaphysical, the pairings of the everyday and the extraordinary in this collection of short fiction yield supernatural results—a young musician perceives another world while drinking coffee, a fairy chronicles his busy life in a sandcastle during the changing tide, a demonic 16th-century chess set shows up in a New Jersey bar, and Charon, the boatman of hell, takes a few days vacation. Storylines both conventional and outlandish reveal humdrum routines as menacing, or imaginary worlds as perfectly familiar. Allusions to authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne reinforce the fantasy tradition in these tales, while understated humor and moments of sadness add a quirky unpredictability. Also included is the previously unpublished novella, "Botch Town," a coming-of-age story about a boy on Long Island whose family and friends live ordinary lives under threats both real and imagined. Each story is followed by a brief afterword that details its genesis.

Contents

Introduction by Jonathan Carroll
The Annals of Eelin-Ok + Story Notes
Jupiter's Skull + Story Notes
A Night in the Tropics + Story Notes
The Empire of Ice Cream + Story Notes
The Beautiful Gelreesh + Story Notes
Boatman's Holiday + Story Notes
Botch Town + Story Notes
A Man of Light + Story Notes
The Green Word + Story Notes
Giant Land + Story Notes
Coffins on the River + Story Notes
Summer Afternoon + Story Notes
The Weight of Words + Story Notes
The Trentino Kid + Story Notes

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Horror, Anthologies

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Jeffrey Ford is an American writer in the Fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humor, literary allusion, and a fascination with tales told within tales. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he studied with the novelist John Gardner.

He lives in southern New Jersey and teaches writing and literature at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. He has also taught at the summer Clarion Workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers in Michigan. He has contributed stories, essays and interviews to various magazines and e-magazines including MSS, Puerto Del Sol, Northwest Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Argosy, Event Horizon, Infinity Plus, Black Gate and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

He published his first story, "The Casket", in Gardner's literary magazine MSS in 1981 and his first full-length novel, Vanitas, in 1988.

Reviews

[Karl]

This is Golden Gryphon book 44.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful stories. Almost five stars, but I hung back because a couple of stories didn't resonate as strongly.

I picked this up after reading the eponymous short story for TAW book club. It's an excellent, award-winning story: if you don't read the whole book, I highly recommend finding a copy of the story online.

A couple of the stories really snuck up on me. I thought the first story was clever up until I found myself crying at the end. "Jupiter's Skull", "A Night in The Tropics" and "Boatman's Holiday" are all clever and powerful short fiction. "Botch Town" painted a family and a town and a time so deftly I forgot they weren't real.

If I had one almost-complaint, it would be that Ford himself often seems to be the narrator. There are a few protagonists who seem like variations on a middle-aged writer from New Jersey. That said, a couple of those stories are among my favorites here, so I'm not sure it's actually a hindrance to my enjoyment. The best ghost stories are told as truth.

[Boogi Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

هفت از ده ستاره

داستان‌هایی که جفری فورد تعریف می‌کند اصالت خاصی دارند، یک اصالت جفری فوردی..
او روی خط باریک بین فانتزی و علمی تخیلی قدم می‌زند و در این فضای خاص ایده‌های عجیبش را به داستان می‌آورد. جایی مثل داستان "جاینت‌لند" به زعم من، نمی‌گیرد و جاهایی مثل داستان‌های "امپراطوری بستنی" و " ذهنِ کاتب" نه تنها می‌گیرد که کاملا خاص و با ارزش می‌شوند. داستان‌های او فرقی نمی‌کند که در چه سطحی باشند چون‌ که فقط جفری فورد است که مثل جفری فورد می‌نویسد.
البته این گزاره‌ها در محدوده دانش محدود من از خوانده‌هاست و ممکن است کسی یا کسانی باشند که نوشته‌هایشان همین طعم و مزه را داشته باشند. مزه‌ای به شگفت‌انگیزی بستنی قهوه‌ی "امپراطوری بستنی"..
و خوشحالم که نویسنده‌‌ای به خوبی جفری فورد را در عالم گمانه‌زن پیدا کردم.
پ.ن: اولین بار که طرح جلد کتاب رو تو غرفه نشر پریان دیدم، ازش خوشم نیومده بود اما بعدها که کتاب رو خریدم و داشتم نمی تونستم از طرح روی کتاب چشم بردارم و مدام چشمم رو به سمت خودش می‌کشوند.. و هنوز هم هر جا ببینمش بهش خیره می‌شم...

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why did I pick up Jeffrey Ford? Because he came with stellar reviews by Jonathan Carroll.

I read “The Girl in the Glass,” a novel by Ford, several months ago. It was good, but not blow-your-mind. So, I had taken his other books off my wishlist. However, someone had already picked up a copy of “Empire of Ice Cream,” a collection of his short stories, and I was gifted it shortly thereafter.

And really? Ford is definitely in his element with the short story.

Carroll’s intro explains it best: “One of the mot terrible losses man endures in his lifetime is not even noticed by most people, much less mourned. …

“I’m talking about the sense of wonder that is such an integral part of the world when we are children. …

“As adults we are not supposed to say or feel Wow, or wonder, of even true surprise because those things make us sound goofy, ingenuous, and childlike.

“When I sat down to read Jeffrey Ford’s ‘Empire of Ice Cream,’ I knew only one thing: that for the next few hundred pages my mind would be swinging from a trapeze high above the ground with no net below.”

This really encapsulates the essence of these stories, I think. One of the quirky aspects of my personality is that I do strive to see the awe in every day; to recapture that essence of wonder in the world around me. And in this collection, Ford really pushes the boundaries of imagination … usually without going so far as to find me running away screaming (pure sci fi and fantasy are not pushing boundaries to me; they go beyond the boundaries and try to create something wholly new … and I can never feel a sense of reality from them). He takes you from a vivid, ripe description of your world, to an altered, blurry version, recrisp-ed and possible.

I’ve been reading the stories off and on, in between novels. Almost against my will, I got lost in most of them. The problem with the short story being … it’s over too soon! But, I know from his novel that the whole(s) may not be as delicious as the tastes … and therefore, I am sated.

[Harir Heidary · Rating 5 out of 5]

از بهترین مجموعه داستان‌هایی بود که خوندم. حقیقتا خوشحالم بدون خوندن این کتاب نمردم.

[Amirhossein Aminirad · Rating 5 out of 5]

عجیب‌ترین داستان‌های کوتاهی بود که خوندم و تا حالا چیزی مثل این نخونده بودم.

[Shanshad Whelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first real encounter with Jeffrey Ford. I wound up picking up the book because of the title. Overall I'm finding his writing to be dense and a lot of exposition, which makes my eyes tire quicker. Slower going with his collection than with some I'm reading.

The Annals of Eelin-Ok--Perhaps my favorite whimsical offering so far. A creative and charming look into the life of an imaginary creature that Ford manages to conjure up clearly enough to feel real.

Jupiter's Skull--mostly felt this was a bizarre mind trip. Didn't quite work for me as a story.

A Night in the Tropics--It's a little freaky when you realize the author grew up right around your childhood stomping grounds. Ford references a whole bunch of places on Long Island that just kind of left me blinking--I'm used to seeing NYC brought into stories, but having something so specifically familiar written into this little story made it rather surreal. Good, but surreal.

The Empire of Ice Cream--The title story for this collection, it is also a magnificent one that immediately caught and held me. I must note that Ford's notes on his stories, their origins, his view of them and the awards they've won come after each story, which is actually a nice way of doing so. The reader isn't warned what to expect ahead of time, but given the information after they've discovered each story for themselves.

The Beautiful Galreesh--Bizarre, dark and oddly fascinating. ^_^

Boatman's Holiday--Loved this one--great ending!

Botch Town--Another one set in West Islip area. Unfortunately this one was a little too "boy's trip down memory lane." It went on too long and rambled a bit too much, though it was interesting and still very strong writing, just not one for me.

Man of Light--I started seeing where this one was going pretty quick, a dark little story.

The Green Word--elegant fantasy story--possibly one of the most straightforward tales in the entire book.

Giant Land--could not really get into this one near so much. Perhaps in another time and place it would appeal more.

Coffins on the River--not my thing

Summer Afternoon--poetic and intriguing. I liked this one without a completely clear understanding of why I liked it.

The Weight of Words--A reflection on character and the power of words and the meaning of them . . . interesting story.

The Trentino Kid--sort of ghost story I guess. Good conclusion to this collection.

Overall, I'm happy I read this. There were pieces less interesting and less suited to me, but the stuff I liked, some of it was quite astounding and has me wanting to stuff it under my husband's nose until he reads the stories so we can discuss them. It's my first discovery of Jeffrey Ford, but I'll be happy to come across him again.

[Jack Haringa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another marvelous collection of stories from multiple award-winning Ford, The Empire of Ice Cream assembles 14 tales published between 2002 and 2006. Central to it is the novella "Botch Town," which became the basis of the novel The Shadow Year--winner of the 2008 Shirley Jackson Award. My favorite stories in the collection were the title piece, "Boatman's Holiday," "A Man of Light," and "The Weight of Words." While I'm not quite as enamored of the more hallucinatory tales ("The Beautiful Gelreesh," "Giant Land"), the book is a tremendously entertaining read overall and a great showcase for Ford's versatility and inventiveness.

[Olena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга - те, що треба. Особливо для любителів жанру, адже вона мала премію «Неб‘юла».
Мила фантастична оповідь, де уява межує з реальністю, де любов з‘єднує світи, і невідомо ще - чи є у нас ілюзії чи ми самі чиясь ілюзія.
У цьому творі зачаровуєшся химерами людської психіки, гарною подачею цікавих психологічних феноменів.

Безперечно хочеться продовжити знайомство з творчістю автора.

[Lobo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przeczytałam tylko opowiadanie tytułowe, ponieważ jest dostępne online. Nie ma go natomiast osobno w katalogu Goodreads, więc dokonam nadużycia i zaznaczę całą książkę. Najwyżej potem zrobię re-read.

"The Empire of Ice Cream" opowiada o chłopcu z synestezją i jego problemach wynikających z braku zrozumienia ze strony otoczenia, głównie o jego samotności. Gdzieś po drodze odkrywa, że smak lodów kawowych pozwala mu doświadczać innego rodzaju wizji - zamiast abstrakcyjnych powiązań pomiędzy zmysłami, widzi dziewczynę. Smak lodów staje się sposobem na podglądanie czyjegoś życia. Opowiadanie bawi się w niedopowiedzenia, pozostawiając długo kwestią otwartą, czy są to majaki to też jakiś sposób na przekraczanie granic rzeczywistości.

Opowiadanie przypomina "Problem z Cassandrą" Gaimana, idąc tym samem tropem: obiekt majaków myśli, że jest tym, któremu się majaczy. Zaczynam podejrzewać, że to symptomatyczne, biorąc pod uwagę, że za każdym razem jest to ten sam schemat: chłopak wymyśla dziewczynę i nie wie, że ona wymyśliła jego. Czy to jakiś revers sexism fantazja odnośnie zmienienia roli podmiotu i przedmiotu w relacji heteronormatywnej birnarnej seksualności? Czy to ma być próba (nieudana) dekonstrukcji tropu manic pixie dream girl? Jakaś spłaszczona przez nadużycie ironia? Serio, jestem w kropce, skąd to się wzięło i czemu jest takie nośnie.

[Dafna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It takes me much longer to finish short story compilations than it does to finish regular novels. I suspect that the reason for this is that I like having time to absorb and think over a story after I've finished it. While this took me longer than other books that I was reading alongside it to finish, I really loved it.

This is my introduction to Jeffrey Ford's work, and I cannot wait to read some of his other stories. Right when I thought that I had found my favorite story, I would read another that would equal or surpass it.

I love good fantasy, and this book was a dream to read. Stories were beautifully written, haunting, downright scary sometimes. The fact that Ford and I have so much in common and that he wrote about areas that I recognized and have lived in made it even better.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Very imaginative, very different, but after a while the author's writing style became a little repetitive (he recycles story structure). Highlights include "The Annals of Eilin-Oik," "Boatman's Holiday," "The Beautiful Gelreesh," and of course "The Empire of Ice Cream."

The "Empire of Ice Cream" was one of the most intriguing short stories I've read in a long while.

[Peter Tillman]

A well-regarded collection. I've read and liked the title story, which is "about a man, a composer, with synesthesia. Coffee ice cream causes him to conjure a young woman who is also an artist and a synesthesiac. The story comes to a predictable but still quite satisfying and moving conclusion." I'm cribbing the description from Rich Horton, whose review is the one to read: https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2018/11...
Better still, the collection is all of $2 at Amazon!

[Teresa Cervera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as strong as his other collections but the title story, boatmans holiday, a man of light and a night at the tropics were all very good. Botch town is the original version of the shadow year.

[Ula · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5, and I might someday raise that to 4. Very good stories, with the first, "The Annals of Eelin-Ok," particularly standing out on my first pass through the book. (I'm sure I'll be coming back to it.)

Coming back to this years later and reading more closely, this collection starts very strong, with the first six stories pushing the book to four stars just on their own. The final story is quite good too.

The turning point comes with "Botch Town," in which Ford has a go at a Bradbury/Stephen King-ish look back at his reimagined childhood. The story is fine as it goes along, but it's the first in the collection to really fail to bring everything together in the end (and to have a climactic scene that feels very cliched, in a way that a couple of the other stories threaten to have but then avoid). Because it's the longest piece in the collection by far, that ends up making the story feel like it long overstayed its welcome and comes as an especially unhappy surprise after the stories that came before it.

From there on the stories, unfortunately, are notably weaker, most of them starting with interesting premises but again failing to conclude in a way that makes them feel fully realized. I kept going, because by that point Ford had certainly earned the benefit of the doubt, and none were outright bad, though "Summer Afternoon" is a trifle and "Coffins on the River" is forgettable. But the rest are interesting and should count as "near misses" that only disappoint because the first six are so very, very good.

[Isidore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven by comparison with Ford's sensational first collection, The Fantasy Writer's Assistant, The Empire of Ice Cream nevertheless contains more hits than misses.

The title story, Botch Town, and The Annals of Eelin-Ok all received awards, and deserved them.

The Trentino Kid, an uncharacteristic venture into traditional supernatural horror, is also splendidly effective; A Night in the Tropics dares to employ the hoary 'thief steals cursed object' plot premise, and gets away with it. In both of these stories Ford successfully frames an unremarkable idea with excellent characterization and strong evocation of place.

Less compelling are several stories which appear to be experiments in narrative construction, typically featuring plots that fold in on themselves in various ingenious ways. In A Man of Light, for example, an apparently 'real' protagonist proves to be a wholly 'unreal' figure drawn from a dream recounted by another character. In Jupiter's Skull the two main characters recall a story they had been told by a third, and more or less become the two main characters within that story. The pleasures here are purely cerebral. Ford's writing is always so vivid and involving that it is all the more disappointing when one realizes that a story's only payoff is abstract appreciation of its trickery.

[Kelly Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess I'm givin' this one a 4.5 in reality. I can't give you anything concrete that I disliked or that threw me, and Ii did like this anthology a little more than his drowned life copulation. BUT and it's a medium Jennifer Lopez Butt, I didn't really click with some of the stories and found myself going back and forth between it and a novel I started.

Well after writing this I felt I was letting the book down somewhat. I went skimming back through the pages and found that on the whole I did enjoy Mr. Ford's work. Just sometimes, in a few of the stories he lost me. I felt I wasn't catching the underlying theme or discourse. Something just wouldn't stick to my brain when I read those. Others stood tall and proud in my imagination. I think 'The Annals of Eelin-Ok' will long rein in my mind for the beauty in both it's characters and it's setting. As well, 'The Trentino kid' was another good story.
All in all I would recommend this book to all fantasy readers Just because my head wasn't in the right space for some of the tales doesn't seem like a good reason to forsake a good writer's material.

[Mikey · Rating 4 out of 5]

For personal reasons, I found The Empire of Ice Cream to be a fascinating and haunting read, one of my favorite books of recent times. I don't know of any other fiction that deals so directly with synaesthesia, and if Ford doesn't have that condition himself, he sure knows how to write about it. The early parts of this book, in which the narrator carefully describes his condition, are gripping and bound to be intriguing to even those who don't have that bizarre neurological condition. Halfway through the book, the story veers into psychological science fiction territory, which is pretty neat, but in a novella of this length, I probably would have preferred either the neuro-psychological angle or the science fiction angle; the length of the book doesn't allow for enough fleshing out of both. Nevertheless, this is a very worthwhile read, especially for those who like starting out a book thinking it's about something, only to realize in the middle of the read that it's about something else entirely.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written collection of a wide range of fantasy stories. A few of the stories take us to strange worlds inhabited by fascinating creatures. One of my favorites was "The Annals of Eelin-Ok," a tale about faries who live in sandcastles. Most of the stories, however, take our world and put a slight fantasy twist to it. The last story in the collection, "The Trentino Kid," shows us a blue collar world of clamming, hard work, a struggle to find meaning in life.

What made this such a fun read was Ford's prodigious skills. His prose is beautiful and his stories nicely crafted. His stories are straight forward, following clear plotlines. However, he always seemed to be thinking a step or two ahead of me, throwing in some twists and turns just when I thought I had everything figured out.

[Julka · Rating 4 out of 5]

коротка проза. цікава розповідь про хлопчика який "страждає" на синестезію. і з такою "хворобою" ніколи не можеш бути впевненим, де відчуття справжні, а де тільки в наслідок синестезії. за таких обставин починаєш сумніватися не тільки в справжності того, що бачиш-чуєш-відчуваєш, а навіть і у власній справжності не можеш бути до кінця впевненим.

відкрила для себе нового автора, шкода, що тільки це одне оповіданнячко знайшла в укрперекладі. кому цікаво - цілком законно почитати можна тут http://www.vsesvit-journal.com/old/co...

[Barrita · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Empire of Ice Cream es uno de mis cuentos favoritos, así que por eso el libro vale la pena, pero el resto de los cuentos son buenos. En algunos las cosas parecen no tener mucho sentido en partes, pero eso viene con el estilo de Jeffrey Ford: lleno de imaginación, fuerte impacto sentimental y descripciones vívidas pero con un toque surreal que confunde a ratos.

[Kinsey_m · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much more solid short story collection by Ford than the Drown Life, in my opinion.
The Annals of Elin-Ok***
Jupiter's skull ***
A night in the tropics ***
The Empire of ice cream *****
The Beautiful Gelreesh ***
Botch Town ** (I didn't finish it as it was too rambling nd episodic, it could be that it coheres at the end, but I don't have that much patience)

[Alice Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic collection by Jeffrey Ford. The title story, about synesthesia, is phenomenal. I preferred the stories with mythic themes, such as "Boatman's Holiday" and "The Green Word," but the writing style and surreal twists make each story powerful in its own way.

[Vega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty great collection of short stories. The title story and The Annals of Eelin-Ok are particularly good.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fantasy/slipstream short story collection. Some great stories in this one, but not all of the resonated with me. I have a further review on the Electric Spec blog.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

no se puede comparar a jeffrey ford con los demas. esta en su propia categoria.

[FoW · Rating 5 out of 5]

공감각자에 대하여 이처럼 환상을 품게 하고 시기가 일도록 하는 다른 작품을 아직 접하지 못했으며, 해리성 장애는 황홀하기까지 하다. 이 작품에 담기지 않은 감정은 없고, 이는 만화경처럼 펼쳐진다. 존재의 가벼움만이 장점이 되다 못해 단점이 될 수 있다.

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good anthology. Some gems, some average & some clinkers.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love Jeffrey Ford's short stories. Definitely a writer who takes random turns to get to an unexpected ending