Monkey Sonatas

Rating:
Summary: You have to read Uncle Orson's "Unaccompanied Sonata"
Review: I tend to think of Orson Scott Card as a storyteller, mainly because "writer" is just too general a term to be applied to his occupation. This collection of fantasy tales (only the last tale, "The Monkeys Thought 'Twas All in Fun" qualifies as science fiction) proves the point with one of Uncle Orson's most lyrical tales, "Unaccompanied Sonata," which was inspired by the unhappy thought, what if someone forbade him to write? Card himself described this short story in its original afterward as the truest thing he had ever written. Also included in this collection is the exquisite tale of "The Porcelain Salamander," and the inspired devil's advocacy of "A Cross-Country Trip to Kill Richard Nixon." While these recommendations conclusively argue that the first three stories in "Monkey Sonatas" are the best of the bunch, this is still an above average collection of Uncle Orson's early short stories. Still, to underscore the obvious, if you read one Orson Scott Card short story in your entire life, it should be "Unaccompanied Sonata."

Rating:
Summary: You have to read Uncle Orson's "Unaccompanied Sonata"
Review: I tend to think of Orson Scott Card as a storyteller, mainly because "writer" is just too general a term to be applied to his occupation. This collection of fantasy tales (only the last tale, "The Monkeys Thought 'Twas All in Fun" qualifies as science fiction) proves the point with one of Uncle Orson's most lyrical tales, "Unaccompanied Sonata," which was inspired by the unhappy thought, what if someone forbade him to write? Card himself described this short story in its original afterward as the truest thing he had ever written. Also included in this collection is the exquisite tale of "The Porcelain Salamander," and the inspired devil's advocacy of "A Cross-Country Trip to Kill Richard Nixon." While these recommendations conclusively argue that the first three stories in "Monkey Sonatas" are the best of the bunch, this is still an above average collection of Uncle Orson's early short stories. Still, to underscore the obvious, if you read one Orson Scott Card short story in your entire life, it should be "Unaccompanied Sonata."

Rating:
Summary: The best collection of short stories by Orson Scott Card.
Review: Orson Scott Card is far and away my favorite short story author. Of his collections of short stories, _The_Monkey_Sonatas_ is the best. Each of the "sonatas" is a gripping, tragic short story about we "monkeys." In almost every case, I was moved to tears. If you can find this book, I give it my highest recommendation. It's not in print at the moment, but I'm looking forward to a reprint. I lost my first copy, which I consider to be a separate tragedy. :) If it is re-released, I plan to buy at least 5 copies for backup and gifts. (Hear that, Tor?) Some of them are science fiction, some are fantasy. All are fantastic.