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CONTAGION AND OTHER STORIES short fiction by Brian Evenson ISBN: 1-877655-34-1, First edition. 152 pgs., 2000. $11.00 plus s/h (U.S. only) LIMITED SUPPLY |
DESCRIPTION
Brian Evenson's third collection of short stories. Several of these stories have settings in the American West. Includes 1998 O. Henry Prize story, "Two Brothers" and O. Henry Prize runner-up, "The Polygamy of Language". Cover design by Eric Lyman. #22 in the Wordcraft Speculative Writers Series.
Mapping a literary space uniquely its own, Evenson's Contagion and Other Stories pursues to a new level the crepescular and delirious exploration begun in his acclaimed and controversial collection, Altmann's Tongue. In the O'Henry Award winning "Two Brothers," a minister break his leg while his sons watch then refuses to call an ambulance, remaining convinced even unto death that God will arrive to lift him up and make him whole. The self-acclaimed language specialist of "The Polygamy of Language" indiscriminately blends linguistics with murder. "Contagion" is a skewed retelling of the early history of barbed wire, which interweaves metaphysics and the Western genre. "Watson's Boy" show a boy endlessly wandering the human equivalent of a conditioned response box while the protagonist of "By Halves" finds himself trapped in a relationship that may not exist. Throughout, Evenson's immaculate prose draws us mercilessly up to confront troubled and troubling lives that, astoundingly, are no less human than our own.
.
Mapping a literary space uniquely its own, Evenson's Contagion and Other Stories pursues to a new level the crepescular and delirious exploration begun in his acclaimed and controversial collection, Altmann's Tongue. In the O'Henry Award winning "Two Brothers," a minister break his leg while his sons watch then refuses to call an ambulance, remaining convinced even unto death that God will arrive to lift him up and make him whole. The self-acclaimed language specialist of "The Polygamy of Language" indiscriminately blends linguistics with murder. "Contagion" is a skewed retelling of the early history of barbed wire, which interweaves metaphysics and the Western genre. "Watson's Boy" show a boy endlessly wandering the human equivalent of a conditioned response box while the protagonist of "By Halves" finds himself trapped in a relationship that may not exist. Throughout, Evenson's immaculate prose draws us mercilessly up to confront troubled and troubling lives that, astoundingly, are no less human than our own.
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PRAISE FOR THE DIN OF CELESTIAL BIRDSMAGIC DEER
“Contagion remains one of the most strange and powerful books of the new millennium.”
— Bob Ehrenreich, The Believer#2, May 2003
"Readers of Ballard and Burroughs will exult in Contagion -- a brilliant rageful, necromantic and philosophic swarm of nightmares and lingering fevers."
-- Rikki Ducornet, author of The Fanmaker's Inquisition and The Word "Desire"
“The stories in Contagion are not comforting. They are, instead, challenging and intense. Evenson’s vision is compelling; his prose, forceful. His characters are seekers who look with open eyes into the dark.”
— Andrew Geyer, Iron Horse Literary Review
“...fans of transgressive fiction will find Contagion thought-provoking, rich with metaphor and carefully crafted.”
-- Ritah Parrish, The Oregonian
“With [Contagion] Brian Evenson further stakes out his own disturbing, sometimes hilarious, and always bizarre narrative terrain.”
— Peter Donahue, Review of Contemporary Fiction
“Contagion is a vicious and virtuous book that swoons in a panicked epiphany.”
-- Melissa Maerz, Rain Taxi
— Bob Ehrenreich, The Believer#2, May 2003
"Readers of Ballard and Burroughs will exult in Contagion -- a brilliant rageful, necromantic and philosophic swarm of nightmares and lingering fevers."
-- Rikki Ducornet, author of The Fanmaker's Inquisition and The Word "Desire"
“The stories in Contagion are not comforting. They are, instead, challenging and intense. Evenson’s vision is compelling; his prose, forceful. His characters are seekers who look with open eyes into the dark.”
— Andrew Geyer, Iron Horse Literary Review
“...fans of transgressive fiction will find Contagion thought-provoking, rich with metaphor and carefully crafted.”
-- Ritah Parrish, The Oregonian
“With [Contagion] Brian Evenson further stakes out his own disturbing, sometimes hilarious, and always bizarre narrative terrain.”
— Peter Donahue, Review of Contemporary Fiction
“Contagion is a vicious and virtuous book that swoons in a panicked epiphany.”
-- Melissa Maerz, Rain Taxi
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Evenson's collection of stories, Altmann's Tongue, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1994. Wordcraft of Oregon published his second full collection, The Din of Celestial Birds (out of print). This is his third full story collection. In addition, Evenson has published two other works of fiction, One Thick Black Cord and Prophets and Brothers. He has lived in Central America and Europe. More information can be found on his website at www.brianevenson.com.