Fractal Paisleys

by Paul Di Filippo

Ten funky science fiction stories by the widely acclaimed author of The Steampunk Trilogy and Ribofunk. Here is cutting-edge science fiction by a writer called one of the funniest, most original, and most offbeat today. The book includes "alternate world" stories with a light, whimsical touch, in the vein of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

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

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 1997

About the author

Paul Di Filippo is the author of hundreds of short stories, some of which have been collected in these widely-praised collections: The Steampunk Trilogy, Ribofunk, Fractal Paisleys, Lost Pages, Little Doors, Strange Trades, Babylon Sisters, and his multiple-award-nominated novella, A Year in the Linear City. Another earlier collection, Destroy All Brains, was published by Pirate Writings, but is quite rare because of the extremely short print run (if you see one, buy it!).

The popularity of Di Filippo’s short stories sometimes distracts from the impact of his mindbending, utterly unclassifiable novels: Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. Paul’s offbeat sensibility, soulful characterizations, exquisite-yet-compact prose, and laugh-out-loud dialogue give his work a charmingly unique voice that is both compelling and addictive. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards.

Despite his dilatory ways, Paul affirms that the sequel to A Year in the Linear City, to be titled A Princess of the Linear Jungle, will get written in 2008. He has two books forthcoming from PS Publications: the collection entitled Harsh Oases and the novel titled Roadside Bodhisattva. His 2008 novel Cosmocopia is graced by Jim Woodring illustrations.

Paul lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

2020 reread:
Not quite as good as I recalled, but most of the stories are still pretty good. Highlights were "The Lennon Spex," "Earth Shoes" & "Flying the Flannel." "Fractal Paisleys", the title story, was disappointing this time. But with humor, who knows what you might like?

[Anita Dalton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend recommended Di Filippo to me as one of the craziest writers she has read and she was right. Not being a huge science fiction fan, he was unknown to me, so there may be plenty of people who know of Di Filippo and don't think him that odd. I, however, think he is amazingly and delightfully weird, as this short story collection proved. You can read my entire discussion here.

Review snippet: "“Queen of the Pixies, King of the Imps” is so fucking insane you really just need to read it. Hoo boy, is Di Filippo a brave writer because there is no way he is not revealing a deep lust for Pia Zadora. There are too many petite actresses he could have used in her stead that would make more sense to a modern audience for this to be anything other than a story of deep celebrity crush. Anyway, a dude is raised by a teeny tiny woman (his name is Walter de la Mare) and he finds out he is the King of the Imps, forced by hormones and surgery to grow tall so he can be hidden in plain sight because his life was in danger. He lives a lonely life because he can only get it up for teeny, tiny women (perfectly formed women, not dwarves). He meets Pia Zadora (Pia Zamora in the story), realizes his destiny, etc. Also there is a guest appearance by Danny Devito as the challenging Imp. High weirdness abounds, buy the collection for this seriously demented story."

[Joel Dishman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that you read once or twice a decade back but somehow has become part of your mental furniture. A photograph of John Lennon will make you pause, briefly, to wonder what he saw with those spectacles; and you'll never hear "Strawberry Fields Forever" quite the same way again.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

These short stories are weird, but I like weird. This collection is a good read I expected all of them to add up 2 the 1st two in the book.

Master Blaster...... 3 Stars

Fractal Paisleys 5 Stars My Favorite kinda like the movie Click w/ Adam Sandler...but way more strange.

Do you Believe in Magic 3 stars
Earth Shoes & Flying the Flannel 4 stars

Lennon Spex 5 Stars, Imagine seeing that w/ sunglasses on..WOW!

[Jenine Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting mix of sci-fi stories. I enjoyed most of them, and found some of them pretty funny. (Like the one the book is named after- Fractal Paisleys.) Others were less than awesome, but I suppose that happens with any book of short stories.

[Eero · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are mostly variations on the magic lamp type of story: a sort of loser character accidentally winds up in possession of a mcguffin that grants wishes with no user's manual, and hilarity ensues when this device is used in suboptimal ways. Compare with Robert Sheckley's short stories.

[L. Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were very excellent stories.

[Adam Meek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous SF stories, stand outs: Mama Told Me Not To Come and Earth Shoes

[Angel Mata · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 for sure but for the right person, this could easily be someone’s 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It just wasn’t for me.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bunch of weird short stories. There are definitely some good ones in here, but I liked "The Best of Crank" a better. These stories are funny and bizzare.

[Steven Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Di Filippo book.