The Disappearing Dwarf [Import] [Paperback]

James P. Blaylock (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Grafton Books (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0586201734
• ISBN-13: 978-0586201732
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,631,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best whimsical fantasy novels ever!, January 18, 2000

By 

"fitcharoo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Disappearing Dwarf (Mass Market Paperback)

The Disappearing Dwarf is the fantastic sequel of Blaylock's "The Elfin Ship" and while it stands out as one of my favorite books of all time, you must understand the Blaylockian mindset to know why. Again the characters Jonathan Bing, Ahab, Professor Wurzle, and now Gump and Bufo, take us on a trip through Balumnia where Sikorsky/Selznak the Dwarf is up to his old tricks.

If you ever wondered about how coffee would taste if made from river water, or why a haberdasher should never swim in his clothes, or even why Zippo the magician shouts, "Hocus Pocus Mooliocus" before smashing pocket watches during his performance, this book is for you.

This is another book my son will hear when he is a little older. If you can find a copy, it would be well worth your while.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Beginning, August 10, 2009

By 

readerwriter - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Disappearing Dwarf (Mass Market Paperback)

The Elfin Ship, and its equally enchanting sequel The Disappearing Dwarf, were easily James Blaylock's finest hour. Set in a parallel land of everyday magic, both of them center around Jonathan Bing, Master Cheesemaker of Twombly Town. Or just "Cheeser," for short.

Blaylock's special gift is to write tales of apparently goofy characters who seem at first glance to be out of touch with reality, but then slowly reveal their essential shrewdness. And by the time the books come to their end, all the seemingly disconnected plot and character threads come together magnificently, like the climax of a well-written symphony, displaying their underlying logic in an impressive way.

Sadly, after these two auspicious beginnings, Blaylock began to stray farther and farther from "pure" fantasy, appearing to prefer contemporary fantasies that are hard on the "contemporary" part and increasingly lighter on the "fantasy." He returned to the Twombly Town setting of the first two books for The Stone Giant (1989), but that was actually a sort of "prequel," giving us the background of the eccentric pirate Theophile Escargot. Three steampunk novels followed -- The Digging Leviathan, Homunculus and Lord Kelvin's Machine. All worthy books, but not up to the high standards set by The Disappearing Dwarf and The Elfin Ship.

His latter novels, from All The Bells On Earth to The Rainy Season, grow largely devoid of fantasy elements altogether. It's as though Blaylock has turned away from his fantastic roots, consciously or otherwise, to concentrate on contemporary fiction. If so, this is a real shame, since his Twombly Town books were fantasies like nothing before or since.

If you can find copies of The Elfin Ship and The Disappearing Dwarf, buy them. Better still, buy several copies, since they've been out of print for some years and were inexplicably never issued in hardcover. These two books represent a master fantasist at his best, before he turned his attentions to other -- and in my opinion, much lesser -- fields. You'll be reading them for years to come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is How To Do It Correctly., November 23, 2008

By 

David A. Wilcomb "David" (Phoenix Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Disappearing Dwarf (Mass Market Paperback)

The other reviews say it all. This is excellently-crafted fantasy done with tongue in cheek, without bombast. In the same league as "Bridge of Birds", and that's high praise indeed. I've bought used paperbacks of these for years and given them to friends. A hardback compilation of all three would be wonderful.