One of our most imaginative and accomplished writers, Angela Carter left behind a dazzling array of work: essays, citicism, and fiction. But it is in her short stories that her extraordinary talents—as a fabulist, feminist, social critic, and weaver of tales—are most penetratingly evident. This volume presents Carter's considerable legacy of short fiction gathered from published books, and includes early and previously unpublished stories. From reflections on jazz and Japan, through vigorous refashionings of classic folklore and fairy tales, to stunning snapshots of modern life in all its tawdry glory, we are able to chart the evolution of Carter's marvelous, magical vision.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
"Baudelaire, Poe, Dream-Shakespeare, Hollywood, panto, fairy tale: [Angela] Carter wears her influences openly, for she is their deconstructionist, their saboteur." So writes Salman Rushdie in his introduction to this essential dark fantasy collection, the complete stories (1962-1993) of a master of perfervid prose, dark eroticism, northern Gothic exuberance (think Isak Dinesen), and Grand Guignol imagery. (You may be familiar with Neil Jordan's movie The Company of Wolves, based on one of Carter's tales.) As the New York Times writes, "There is an archaic cruel streak in many of these stories. Violence is always a possibility; beauty and courage and passion may prevail, but the weak and the timid go to the wall. In this, Angela Carter is true to the material that inspired her. After all, one reason the old fairy tales have survived for hundreds of years is that they do not try to disguise what the world is really like."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
The late Angela Carter, better known as a novelist (Wise Children), wrote stories throughout her all-too-brief career, and they are all here, handsomely and perceptively introduced by Salman Rushdie, who was an old friend. These are not at all conventional stories that glimpse moments in contemporary life.They are tales, legends, variations on mythic themes, sparked by writing of great vitality, color and inventiveness, and a deeply macabre imagination. Carter's favorite themes mingle love and death. She cherishes dark forests, winter sunsets, wolves and werewolves, bloody murder, hunters, the cruel, rich husbands of maidens condemned to death. But she also has a ribald, extremely contemporary sense of humor that keeps glancing through the dark mists. Thus John Ford's Jacobean melodrama 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore resurfaces as the script for a movie directed by a 20th-century namesake; a Ph.D. candidate meets his subject's widow, someone very much like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard; and Britain's immortal pantomime characters get a hilarious going-over for their psychosexual significance. There are variations on Lizzie Borden, on the childhood of Edgar Allan Poe and several on Little Red Riding Hood, who gets the better of the Big Bad Wolf in at least two of them (Carter was an ardent but scarcely PC feminist). This is not a collection to be read at a sitting; the stories' jolting intensity makes them indigestible in large doses. But for readers who respond to an antic fancy dressed in highly charged prose, they are a generous treat.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Angela Carter (1940-1992) was the author of many novels, collections of short stories, plays, and books for children.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By E. L. hobbs
Format:Paperback
Be aware that Carter's excellent story of Lizzie Bordenis edited in this editon. The fabulou8s dinner scene, described in great detail in other editons of this story has been deleted from this version. E. Hobbs
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Jennifer
Format:Paperback
In 'Notes From the Front Line', Carter said that she was not in the remythologizing business but in the demythologizing business. Anna Katsavos asked Angela Carter what she meant by that. Angela said, 'Well, I'm basically trying to find out what certain configurations of imagery in our society, in our culture, really stand for, what they mean, underneath the kind of semireligious coating that makes people not particularly want to interfere with them.'
Simply stated, Angela Carter has taken icons and myths we were all raised with and given them back to us in a form we know and trust. In stories. Her stories are adult fairy tales; lush, penetrating, uninhibited and dark.
An introduction by Salman Rushdie sets the perfect tone for the reading ahead. It is the closest to gushing the man has ever come. He says, these stories are also a treasure , to savour and to hoard. They begin with her early works, from 1962-6. The Man Who Loved the Double Bass tells the story of a musician in madly love with his instrument. Could he live without her? In the section called Fireworks; Nine Profane Pieces from 1974, Carters work begins an ethereal exploration on of the psyche in achingly beautiful prose. Her ability to write fantastical tableaus is showcased. In The Executioners Daughter, an executioner is told to execute his only son. The setting, itself, becomes a character. In Penetrating to the Heart of the Forest, a brother and sister are nudged into exploring the a dark forest and its hidden fruit tree. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories is next, featuring writings from 1979. These are fairy tales retold for adults and contains some of the most stunning and psychological erotic written. Black Venus contains writing from 1985 and American Ghosts and Old World Wonders, work from 1993. Uncollected Stories contains work from 1970-81, featuring The Scarlet House, about a woman trapped in a house by a master of Chaos.
These short stories are profane, wise, surreal, unrepentant and brilliant. The Tiger's Bride alone is worth the price of admission in to this magical world.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Unfortunately the story of Lizzie Borden in this editon has been edited mercilessly, a fact my English proffessor only became aware of when she was teaching from a different editon--reccommend that one try to find collection in original form--Carter is too good to be edited so thoughtlessly.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Virtuoso stories that mix the magic and mundane
The world of an Angela Carter short story is a world at once fantastic and familiar. Tigers, werewolves and other beasts stalk through; Bluebeard, Red Riding Hood and Puss-in-Boots... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Orna Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Stories
I absolutely love this book. Carter's stories are so visual, so haunting, they stay with you forever. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Shakey Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
Striking
This is a great book. I was taken back by her imagery. Her tells are striking and slightly unnerving. I recommend this book to any one who is tired of the usual narrative template. Read more
Published on January 31, 2011 by ivyseabreeze
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre, at best
The book of forty-two tales is divided into six sections. The first, Early Work, 1962-6, shows little promise, but highlights the modifier-mania that would seize her career. Read more
Published on September 29, 2008 by Cosmoetica
4.0 out of 5 stars
angela carter, where have you been hiding...
angela carter is one of my newly aquired favorite reads.her poetic insight and humor are matched by none. Read more
Published on February 1, 2006 by Violet
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tiny masterpieces that will remin with you forever
Having enjoyed the novels of Angela Carter, I decided to give her short stories a try.
Written in the same poetic style, these stories require reading very slowly in order... Read more
Written in the same poetic style, these stories require reading very slowly in order... Read more
Published on February 19, 2003 by R. Rockwell
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning
I was first introduced to Carter in my women's lit class, with "The Company of Wolves," (which still stands as my favorite Carter story). Read more
Published on July 7, 2002 by Serena
2.0 out of 5 stars
Cloying and Difficult to Get through
I tried to like "Burning Your Boats" so very much, but these retellings of fairy tales with a feminist slant are too much to bear. Read more
Published on June 9, 2001 by J. Vallese
4.0 out of 5 stars
Burning your boats
I found this book to be fascinating and engrossing - especially The Loves of Lady Purple - engrossing enough to lead the reader to overlook some plodding predictabilities here and... Read more
Published on November 7, 2000 by A reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastical
These stories are extremely engrossing. Carter puts her unique spin on familiar fairy tales, while creating a few new ones of her own. Read more
Published on July 16, 2000 by Writer's Block
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
