jaw@ames-lm.UUCP (James A. Woods) (02/03/84)
#
But I have dreamt a dreary dream
Beyond the Isle of Skye;
I saw a dead man win a fight--
And I think that man was I.
Lafferty, "The Devil is Dead"
citing the ballad of Chevy Chase
Basic question: what is he up to these days? For the unwashed,
crazy Lafferty was one of the best. Borges meets Burroughs. Author of
short stories (collected in 900 Grandmothers, Strange Doings, Does Anyone
Else Have Anything Further to Add?), SF novels (Past Master, Fourth Mansions,
The Devil is Dead [arguably his finest], Arrive at Easterwine, Archipelago),
historical fiction (Okla Hannali, The Flame is Green), and general lies
(The Fall of Rome). A linguist and electrical parts buyer, born in Iowa
(well known breeding grounds for good writers, e.g. Coover, Vonnegut,
Sladek.)
He had the sense, unlike most of us, to not start writing until his
fifties. His later musings professed an embarrassing moralism, but the
early stories have indelibly etched certain archetypes, created out of
whole cloth, into my personal mythology.
You might think his work is too left field, but then fiction, like
music, is very tribal.
-- James A. Woods {hao|menlo70}!ames-lm!jaw
Note: this item was submitted to multiple groups, since Lafferty's cultish
prose has resisted categorization as simple fantasy and SF.keesan@bbncca.ARPA (Morris Keesan) (02/07/84)
------------------------------
What is Lafferty up to these days? Writing. I'm currently in the middle
of "Annals of Klepsis" (Ace, August 1983), which is run-of-the-mill Lafferty,
which means nothing to you unless you've read other Lafferty. I think he has
something out in hardcover and/or limited edition since then, but no names
come into my head.
--
Morris M. Keesan
{decvax,linus,wjh12}!bbncca!keesan
keesan @ BBN-UNIX.ARPAwombat@uicsl.UUCP (02/07/84)
#R:ames-lm:-14300:uicsl:16700012:000:339 uicsl!wombat Feb 6 13:52:00 1984 A small press (Corroboree ?) has recently put out two hardback collections of Lafferty's short stories, *Golden Gate and Other Stories* and *Through Elegant Eyes*. I don't know how much, if at all, these collections overlap other Lafferty collections. They have color drawings by Phil Foglio. Wombat ihnp4!uiucdcs!uicsl!wombat
daemon@decwrl.UUCP (02/09/84)
From: akov68::boyajian James A. Woods: As Wombat mentioned, Corroboree Press has done two limited-edition Lafferty collections. They are: GOLDEN GATE and Other Stories and THROUGH ELEGANT EYES; Stories of Austro and the Men Who Know Everything In case you or other Lafferty fans are interested, they cost $20.00 each, and are signed/numbered editions (print run is 1000 copies each). The address of the publisher is: Corroboree Press, 2729 Bloomington Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN, 55407 GOLDEN GATE has six stories original to the collection, and according to the publisher's note at the beginning (dated May 23, 1982) "None of the stories... have appeared in any of R. A. Lafferty's previous collections". Whether there are any collections since then that include any of those stories, I can't say. THROUGH ELEGANT EYES includes one original story. Some of the others are available in other collections or anthologies, but if you enjoy the adventures of Barnaby Sheen, Harry O'Donovan, Austro, and company, he's a chance to have all of the stories about them in one place. And if I may make one slight correction to Wombat's posting about the illustrations, comic artist Joe Staton (E-MAN) did all of the illos for THROUGH ELEGANT EYES. GOLDEN GATE was illustrated by a number of artists, only one of which was Phil Foglio. If you are interested, I will send you a list of the contents of both collections. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard) UUCP: (decvax!decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian) ARPA: (decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian@Shasta)
wombat@uicsl.UUCP (02/12/84)
#R:ames-lm:-14300:uicsl:16700013:000:435 uicsl!wombat Feb 10 10:10:00 1984 Corrections/updates on the Lafferty Corroboree Press books: *Golden Gate* has six or seven stories written for it while the others are reprints. Some of the illustrations are by Foglio, but Todd Hamilton, Joan Hanke-Woods, and others also contributed. *Through Elegant Eyes* is mostly reprints, with one original story. All illustrations are by Joe Staton (think I have that name right). Wombat ihnp4!uiucdcs!uicsl!wombat