Silver Thread/madness [Paperback]

Jessica Salmonson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ace (January 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441766803
• ISBN-13: 978-0441766802
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,098,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars Beauty and Terror, January 21, 2012

By 

W. H. Pugmire "I never can be tied to raw, ne... (Sesqua Valley) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silver Thread/madness (Paperback)

Jessica Amanda Salmonson is one of our genre's finest authors, a writer of poetic genius; and this collection exhibits her at her finest. The book begins with a proem that sounds distinctly Lovecraftian:

"I read the forbidden book
and joined the mad--
I gleaned deadly knowledge
from beyond the page.
I now believe profoundly
in the wonderful copulation
of demons and saints."

Salmonson's prose is often that of the lyrical prose-poem, as we find in the opening paragraph of the first story, "Lincoy's Journey":

"Lincoy with the almond eyes and hair like midnight fountain was in her seventh year when first she tasted death."

Salmonson's fascination with Asian culture has keenly influenced her dark phantasy, in choices of setting and character, and this gives her fiction an originality that is often lacking in American horror fiction. Some of her stories are drear fables expressed in gorgeous language and dealing with unique and fascinating characters who consider the world in unique ways. There is occasional social commentary, acidic and forlorn. Salmonson has been a champion of the ghost tale and has edited a number of outstanding anthologies and collections of spectral fiction, and this wee gathering of her weird fiction has its sublime and terrifying ghosts. And we have shreds of wretched autobiography in the book's finest tale, "A Child of Earth and Hell," which chilled me decades ago when the author read it to me. It is a classic tale.

The Contents of the Book:

I. SIX LEGENDS
Lincoy's Journey
The Romance of Tcheska and Provelsko
Stomping Grounds of the Gods
Eagle-Worm
A Child of Earth and Hell
Three Dirty Men

II. A SILVER THREAD OF MADNESS
Seller of Stones
Threats
Nights in the City
The Old Woman Who Dragged Her Husband's Corpse
Atrocities
Body Rot
Remembering Allan
Parenting
Tycoon and Lady Death
The Womb and the Grave
Meditations and Confessions Regarding My Disturbing Ability
Samurai Fugue

III. TALES OF NAIPON
The Harmonious Battle
Time-Slit Through a Rice Paper Window
Story of a Castle Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Silver Thread of Madness, December 25, 2005

By 

Texas Book Lover "K" (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silver Thread/madness (Paperback)

Enter the world where a young girl's obsession for samurai movies becomes the ultimate ticket to death.