Little Doors (Di Filippo, Paul) [Hardcover]

Paul Di Filippo (Author)

Book Description

Series: Di Filippo, Paul | Publication Date: November 1, 2002

Here are 17 new stories from a writer whose work has been praised by William Gibson as “spooky, haunting, hilarious.” In the title story of Little Doors, a professor of children’s literature discovers a bizarre synchronicity between a lost text and his illicit relationship with a student. In another story, a boy is born without a brain and his skull is invaded by a group of wild animals. Another chronicles an all-night drive through a Manhattan distinctly different from — but strangely similar to — our own. All of these stories are replete with chaos, human oddities, and the unruly energy of a Tom Waits song, forming an exhilarating collection from a truly creative force in contemporary fiction. The master of "trailer park science fiction", Di Filippo is a two-time finalist for the Nebula Award and finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. “[Di Filippo] channelsurfs postmodern apocalypse, brilliantly.” — Jonathan Lethem

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Paul Di Filippo returns in fine protean form with his story collection Little Doors. "Billy" satirizes both the Reagan presidency and the American anyone-can-make-it myth, as a boy born literally without a brain grows up to become president of the United States. "Rare Firsts" places a fantastic temptation before a failing rare-book dealer. A deceased milquetoast may yet save the day in the amusing nightmare-noir of "The Short Ashy Afterlife of Hiram P. Dottle." The melancholy "Slumberland" reveals the later adventures of the old man who once dreamed his way through the Sunday comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland." And "Return to Cockaigne" turns high fantasy inside out, in what can only inadequately be described as a collision of Candyland, C.S. Lewis's Narnia, James Branch Cabell's Poictesme, and LSD.

The promotional printing of Little Doors promises "seventeen new stories that represent his best work to date": this is not true. The anthology contains 16 stories and one poem. Also, the copyright page indicates that every work has been previously published, and some of the stories date back a decade or more, to a time when Di Filippo was a less skilled and versatile stylist. However, the early stories do display the wild imagination for which he is justly praised, and the later stories demonstrate his full creative powers, from the impressive surrealism of "The Death of Salvador Dali" to the jabberwacked-out magic realism of "Jack Neck and the Worry Bird" to the eerie e.e. cummings tribute "Mehitabel in Hell." --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

Every one of the 17 idiosyncratic short fantasies in this superior collection from Nebula and Philip K. Dick finalist Di Filippo (Ribofunk, etc.) is immaculately told. The writing, however, verges on the self-consciously clever and is slightly condescending, as if Mr. Peabody were patiently explaining the workings of the Wayback machine to his pet boy Sherman. And if you don't grok the Wayback machine as a cultural metaphor, you may miss out on just how good (and often hilarious) the stories are for the right audience: baby boomer Di Filippo is very much of his generation. Furthermore, the author tends to confirm what we already know. In the title story we learn, again, of the dark power of the imagination; we are willingly led by the literally brainless in "Billy"; "The Grange" and "Our House" show that despite our veneer of civilization, we are still primal; insanity can be cruel ("Moloch") or amusing ("The Horror Writer"). Accomplished diversions into style take as subjects high fantasy ("Return to Cockaigne"), Don Marquis ("Mehitabel in Hell") and surrealism ("The Death of Salvador Dali"). Only a few tales-like "Sleep Is Where You Find It" (co-written with Marc Laidlaw), in which legendary photographer Weegee wrestles with the meanings of life and death, and "Rare Firsts," a story about a book lover-display real depth. Still, this is a collection worth reading, even if lacking profundity.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows; First Edition edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568582412
• ISBN-13: 978-1568582412
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,485,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing only in the way Jimi Hendrix disturbs, May 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Little Doors (Di Filippo, Paul) (Hardcover)

Reportedly Di Filippo brews his heady potions whilst seated with headphones on, blasting music so loud it can be heard across the room. Probably the man listens to everything from Glenn Gould to the Stones; his stories reflect that kind of eclectic, roving intelligence. He's not afraid to poke gentle fun at the SF genre, and his skill at writing is impressive: he's a shape-shifter in writer's form. That is, one story will have you thinking "Harlan Ellison," another "Gene Wolfe," another "Samuel Delany," etc. So, yes, it's weirdly discomforting not to be able to pigeonhole these tales. But it sure seems to me that if you're looking for a hugely enjoyable, multi-faceted and unpredictable collection...this is it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, August 3, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Doors (Di Filippo, Paul) (Hardcover)

This is a good example of an average collection. There is nothing brilliant, or nothing terrible, most of the stories are above average, with some average or slightly less, so a no-brainer 3.5 all around. They are pretty much all in the supernatural/fantasy vein.

Little Doors : Little Doors - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Billy - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Moloch - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : The Grange - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Sleep Is Where You Find It - Paul Di Filippo and Marc Laidlaw
Little Doors : The Horror Writer - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : My Two Best Friends - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : The Death Of Salvador Dali - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Our House - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Jack Neck And The Worry Bird - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Stealing Happy Hours - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Singing Each to Each - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Rare Firsts - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Return To Cockaigne - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : The Short Ashy Afterlife Hiram P. Dootle - Paul Di Filippo
Little Doors : Slumberland - Paul Di Filippo


Shagged student's escape portal.

3.5 out of 5


Brainless boy's lower order locutors are trendsetters.

3.5 out of 5


Devil maybe talk.

2.5 out of 5


Secret society of fertilisers.

3.5 out of 5


Human Head Cakebox Murderer proves camera shy.

3 out of 5


Stephenkingalogue not quite all there in his twisted world.

3 out of 5


Werepeople AC/DC match is no matter.

3.5 out of 5


Painter's posthumous path.

3 out of 5


House squatters provide higher and lower function.

3.5 out of 5


Taking the avian load off.

2.5 out of 5


Pleasuresucker strangulation showdown.

3.5 out of 5


Mermaid hooker scheme.

3.5 out of 5


Librarian lady's booksense worth a punt.

4 out of 5


Fantasy trippyworld quartet's return to adventure.

3.5 out of 5


Axe murdering golddigger victim's wooden existence luckily coincides with superhero's crime investigation. A permanent trophy life.

4 out of 5


Sojourn with the Sandman.

3 out of 5

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars BORING and DISTURBING, March 15, 2003

By 

Plastic Larry (ENCINO, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Doors (Di Filippo, Paul) (Hardcover)

Don't bother to open these little doors. I buy every book and article that I can find by Paul, He is usually the most stimulating, interesting, inovative and fun author. He was number one on my list.
This collection is terrible in many ways. The stories and either boring, or unintersting and a couple are disturbing .
It is ok to disturb your reader, but there are stories that make you think that Paul is so disturbed that you do not want to support him anymore by buying his books.
Maybe this is just a collection of the stories that he wanted to through away but was published anyway.
It will probably take me a year to buy another one of his books( That is a long time, since I buy about 3 books a day and he publishes about 3 books an hour.)