The Cat's Pajamas & Other Stories
James Morrow
Tachyon/ 210 pages / $24.95
(September 2004)
ISBN 1892391155
Despite some noteworthy awards, James Morrow is one of the more
underappreciated writers in the business. He's also one of the best and
one of the funniest. Morrow is a true satirist, a moralist who
identifies some of our many faults and offers a wholly new perspective
(not solutions, mind you, that is not his job) through his droll
distortions. I suspect mainstream readers, as well as some science
fiction and fantasy lovers, may be somewhat put off by exactly what you
horror-lovers will relish the ghoulish side of his darkly delightful
satire. Although enlightenment may be provided, it's usually not offered
until we've dealt with at least some despair. It's probably enough to
tell you the title story retells H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau
by way of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but that's not all, folks!
There's thirteen tales here that will have you laughing and weeping at
the same time. "Come Back, Dr. Sarcophagus," a small play original to
the volume, involves a creature feature host who needs a little outside
help - outside of this world - to hold on to his job. In another
original playette, "The Zombies of Montrose," a voodoo priestess
provides raises the dead and puts them usefully to work in suburbia.
Performance copulation has become high art in "The Wisdom of the Skin,"
but perhaps it is just a passing fancy. Catholicism's attention to the
rights of the unborn evolves into a nightmarish future of dystopic
fecundity in "Auspicious Eggs." "Apologue" is very short, very touching,
and features a certain giant ape, a marauding mutant lizard, and a
rollercoaster munching rheodasaur who come out of retirement in
post-9/11 New York. James Morrow obviously loves his fellow human beings
and has a sharp eye for their foibles. His wit and pen are sharper
still. If you are unfamiliar with Morrow, this wonderful collection
his first new title in about five years --from Tachyon (an equally
wonderful small press based in San Francisco) is a superb starting
point. If you already know him you won't want to miss it. --Originally published in Cemetery Dance #51
Despite some noteworthy awards, James Morrow is one of the more
underappreciated writers in the business. He's also one of the best and
one of the funniest. Morrow is a true satirist, a moralist who
identifies some of our many faults and offers a wholly new perspective
(not solutions, mind you, that is not his job) through his droll
distortions. I suspect mainstream readers, as well as some science
fiction and fantasy lovers, may be somewhat put off by exactly what you
horror-lovers will relish the ghoulish side of his darkly delightful
satire. Although enlightenment may be provided, it's usually not offered
until we've dealt with at least some despair. It's probably enough to
tell you the title story retells H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau
by way of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but that's not all, folks!
There's thirteen tales here that will have you laughing and weeping at
the same time. "Come Back, Dr. Sarcophagus," a small play original to
the volume, involves a creature feature host who needs a little outside
help - outside of this world - to hold on to his job. In another
original playette, "The Zombies of Montrose," a voodoo priestess
provides raises the dead and puts them usefully to work in suburbia.
Performance copulation has become high art in "The Wisdom of the Skin,"
but perhaps it is just a passing fancy. Catholicism's attention to the
rights of the unborn evolves into a nightmarish future of dystopic
fecundity in "Auspicious Eggs." "Apologue" is very short, very touching,
and features a certain giant ape, a marauding mutant lizard, and a
rollercoaster munching rheodasaur who come out of retirement in
post-9/11 New York. James Morrow obviously loves his fellow human beings
and has a sharp eye for their foibles. His wit and pen are sharper
still. If you are unfamiliar with Morrow, this wonderful collection
his first new title in about five years --from Tachyon (an equally
wonderful small press based in San Francisco) is a superb starting
point. If you already know him you won't want to miss it.