ROBERT AICKMAN: AN INTRODUCTION
Gary William Crawford
Gothic Press / $20 / 76p
http://www.gothicpress.com/
ISBN: 0913045101

Although the bulk of this little chapbook is devoted to the work of Robert Aickman (1914-1981), its most interesting portion is a concise (20 pages) biography of the complex British writer. Crawford provides a fascinating outline of Aickman's "strife-torn" childhood," profound pacifism and ecological concern in times when both were unusual, his interest in the supernatural, and his relationships with women. Crawford's critical interpretation seems sketchy at times and often lacks an analytical aspect, but still provides some valid insight into Aickman's "strange stories" (which he links to the Surrealists) and he sees Aickman as "very much a product of the twentieth century" who "felt deeply modern man's Angst at the same time that he abhorred it." Primary and secondary bibliographies are also included. There's much to be built on and expanded here, and perhaps Crawford has that intention. Those with an interest specifically in Aickman or in modern dark literature as a whole should read it.
-- (Review originally appeared in DarkEcho #27)

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