Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 12:26:02 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu>
To: "WSFA List" <wsfalist at keithlynch.net>,
    "WSFA Forum" <wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Review of the Waldrop collection in Analog
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Howard Waldrop has been writing SF a bit longer than I have and is quite =
justly many times as well known. His marvelously quirky "The Ugly =
Chickens" alone is enough to make a writer famous even if that writer =
never penned another tale, and Waldrop has sprinkled tales just as =
marvelous and just as quirky by the dozen on his devoted admirers. It is =
thus a tragedy that he is not as wealthy as, say, Stephen King, or as =
bedecked with medals, awards, and other honors as a Ruritanian prince. He =
says about as much in his introduction, but of course Waldrop being =
Waldrop, you are never sure how much of what he says with such a straight =
face you should believe.

Be that as it may, his stories have a tendency to make you see the world =
in new ways. Indeed, the title of his new book has a definite aptness, so =
order Things Will Never Be the Same: Selected Science Fiction, 1980-2005 =
right away. You'll get a bunch of Hugo nominees (more tragedy*someone =
always seems to beat him out!), of which the latest is "The King of =
Where-I-Go," which is so sure to make you unsure of your own past that =
Waldrop might as well hit you in the forehead with a croquet mallet =
(that's a clue, Bubba). I also quite loved the Runyonesque "The Sawing =
Boys," in which Prohibition-Era gangsters meet country music, as contaminat=
ed by early radio. Sixteen stories altogether, and not one you'll be sorry =
to have read.

Enjoy!

<http://www.analogsf.com/0707/reflib_07.shtml>