Status Updates From The Man Who Talled Tales

So many stories...

six-fingers of time is an instant classic. Rainbird is a masterpiece, worthy of Olaf Stapledon, and better than H. G. Wells. A long story about an inventor striving with himself to hurry on the apotheosis of mankind.

Lafferty goes well with Sturgeon and Cordwainer Smith, whom I'm revisiting. Goldfish, a story about a professor's mind transferred to a goldfish. Seems like Laff can write any silly plot in an interesting way.

Murder mystery based primarily around semantics. McGonigal's Worm was clever, dystopian, a parable about total sterilization of chordata on the planet. Great ideas mixed with the usual wacky, disarming humor. I wonder if Lafferty will cover every genre under the sun.

subtle shifts in tone. Aspects of western fiction and random anachronisms. retro futurism. Quirky turns of phrase. The metaphorical becoming literal. Dozens of bizarre writing techniques go into each Lafferty story. They are worth studying.

After reading some incredible stories I'm amazed this collection goes on for 4000 pages. Mind-bending.

This book is MASSIVE. Over four thousand pages of Rafferty's compete short story output. it is NOT light, casual reading. Lafferty's work is often complex, dense & sometimes difficult to follow. The appropriate word here would be 'unconventional'. It's also incredibly brilliant & often times hilarious. There was no one else like him. He was a true American original. I love his 'Institute for Impure Science' stories.

This book is MASSIVE. Over four thousand pages of Rafferty's compete short story output. it is NOT light, casual reading. Lafferty's work is often complex, dense & sometimes difficult to follow. The appropriate word here would be 'unconventional'. It's also incredibly brilliant & often times hilarious. There was no one else like him. He was a true American original. I love his 'Institute for Impure Science' stories.