Strange But Not a Stranger

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Single-Author-Collections of the Year.
Review: James Patrick Kelly's second collection of stories (published by Golden Gryphon, a fine publisher) is a treasury of superbly crafted gems. 15 of them, actually, with a foreword by Connie Willis and an afterword by the author himself.

Highlights are 1016 to 1 (Hugo Winner, novelette category), Undone (Nebula nominee, Novelette category), and Glass Cloud. But nearly each story is insightful.

Contents follow:

Lovestory, Feel the Zaz, Unique Visitors, The Prisoner of Chillon, Candy Art, The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum, Hubris, Proof of the Existence of God, The Cruelest Month, Chemistry, The Pyramid of Amirah, Fruitcake Theory, and the above 3 mentioned.

Rating:
Summary: A marvellous book
Review: Why has James Patrick Kelly not reached a mass-market audience? Why have his two short story collections been published by small print houses? "Why" has always been a difficult question to answer, but I believe there are two reasons for this. The first, of course, is his relatively slow writing pace. American audiences demand things that are NEW; new films, new books, new television shows. They don't seem to like things that are over two years old; they feel it has bad karma and could feasibly destroy their eternally youthful outward appearance. If you've never read The Pearl by John Steinbeck, or Animal Farm by George Orwell, why aren't they considered new? As Charles Dickens said, any book you haven't read before is new. When do you suppose was the last time Average Joe, sitting in his favorite plush office chair and reading Stephen King's latest thousand-pager, read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad? Or Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, or Cannery Row by John Steinbeck? You may be saying now that I've been unfairly critical and overtly patronizing. Well, you would be correct in that statement--but believe me, I include it here only to make a point that is, I believe, in essence, true.

And so, ranting aside, I present unto you my review of James Patrick Kelly's wonderful collection of short stories, Strange but Not a Stranger. By turns witty, funny, insightful, frightening, or intense, the word that practically springs to mind that describes the entire book is entertaining. Your attention quotient, as Connie Willis duly noted in the introduction, will be at a constant peak. Thus, I present as evidence for my cause: "Hubris," "The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum," "10^16 to 1," "Undone."

But where is the description of these aforementioned stories, you ask? Where are the cleverly placed lines of wit, the insightful comments? As with all James Patrick Kelly stories, you have to read it to believe it. But be forewarned: reading these stories is merely half of the journey, for the stories have hidden meanings that will haunt you until you're sure you've figured them out, sure that you've gotten your full money's worth out of them, and suddenly, without warning, they come at you again with another viewpoint or idea for consideration. To put it succinctly, and to practically make the rest of this review obsolete, this book is worthy of a spot on your bookshelf. Enough said.