Synopses & Reviews
and#160;Fire-breathing dragons, beautiful mermaids, majestic unicorns, terrifying three-headed dogsandmdash;these fantastic creatures have long excited our imagination. Medieval authors placed them in the borders of manuscripts as markers of the boundaries of our understanding. Tales from around the world place these beasts in deserts, deep woods, remote islands, ocean depths, and alternate universesandmdash;just out of our reach. And in the sections on the apocalypse in the Bible, they proliferate as the end of time approaches, with horses with heads like lions, dragons, and serpents signaling the destruction of the world.and#160;Legends tell us that imaginary animals belong to a primordial time, before everything in the world had names, categories, and conceptual frameworks. In this book, Boria Sax digs into the stories of these fabulous beasts. He shows how, despite their liminal role, imaginary animals like griffins, dog-men, yetis, and more are socially constructed creatures, created through the same complex play of sensuality and imagination as real ones. Tracing the history of imaginary animals from Paleolithic art to their roles in stories such as Harry Potter and even the advent of robotic pets, he reveals that these extraordinary figures help us psychologicallyandmdash;as monsters, they give form to our amorphous fears, while as creatures of wonder, they embody our hopes. Their greatest service, Sax concludes, is to continually challenge our imaginations, directing us beyond the limitations of conventional beliefs and expectations.and#160;Featuring over 230 illustrations of a veritable menagerie of fantastical and unreal beasts, Imaginary Animals is a feast for the eyes and the imagination.
Review
Of all the Latin American authors in this century, [Borges] is the most universal. (Harold Bloom)
Review
and#8220;Speaking as someone fascinated by all animals from earliest childhood, I found Imaginary Animals to be an intriguing and thought-provoking discovery. Scholarly and well-researched, without being either ponderous or condescending, it is written with real wit, and with a contagious delight in its subject rare in such a study. I would recommend it enthusiastically to anyone interested in the astonishing range of folkloric, religious, cultural, philosophic and political symbolism with which human beings have regarded and ceaselessly recreated real animals in our time together on this planet.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A thought-provoking analysis of bestial creations, this illustrated compendium by Boria Sax scrutinizes artistic and literary models, ranging from Chauvet cave art from 36,000 BCE to political cartoons, graphic Japanese novels, and postmodern robotics. Conclusions about the nature and purpose of fantasy animals draw on scripture, anthropology, medicine, myth, and psychology . . . An intriguing, highly readable reference work at a low price, Saxand#8217;s multifaceted work covers a host of reference needs.and#8221;and#160;
Review
"They are minimalist in word count only, since Beachand#8217;s imagination ranges as widely as his protagonistsand#8230;.Just because a story is short, even really, really short, doesnand#8217;t mean it canand#8217;t contain multitudesand#8230;the cumulative effect is one of gravity, humor and convictionand#8230;.some of the experiments produce surprising and beautiful results."
and#8212;New York Times Book Review
"A dreamy collection of mini stories and illustrations..."
and#8212;New York Magazine
"Marvels of economy."
and#8212;New York Times T Magazine
"Beach has managed to pack each tiny tale with vivid descriptions and narratives that are at once funny, sad, and bracing."
and#8212;Studio 360
"Beach has conjured self-contained, snow-globe-like worlds that are, like the dog curled up by the staircase, perfect."
and#8212;Elle
"These thought-provoking vignettes from illustrator Lou Beach are funny, poetic, touching, sexy, twistedand#8212;scene-and-character sketches replete with bumpkins, criminals, angry teens, truckers, boozers, bimbos, animals, and sentient objects. Best savored one or two a day."
and#8212;Mother Jones
"[Beach's] ability to capture complex scenes in just a few strokes makes his first book of fiction a keeper . . . Every story here is sharpened to a point."
and#8212;The Observer's Very Short List
"Itand#8217;s rare to find a book as seamless and fascinating as Lou Beachand#8217;s 420 Characters."
and#8212;Baltimore Citypaper
"From the great collagist and graphic designer Lou Beach comes a mischievous montage of a different sort: a tiny book filled with tiny stories . . . tragic, absurd, and sweet by turns, each snip of a story is a gem, able to hold its own against more standard-length fare."
and#8212;Flavorwireand#160; (A Must-Read Pick for December)
"Bizarre and awesome."
and#8212;Bookslut
"This charming stocking stuffer proves just how muchand#160; "Beach injects these tidy depictions with...boundless, michievous imagination... Unforced, thoughtful, occasionally profound...sly, surprising, playful, puzzling--and great fun."
and#8212;Publishers Weekly
"Eclectic, vivid moments in time, delivered in the exacting limits of social media...bold, impulsive flash fiction... These moments are...theatrical, instantly recognizable and slide off the tongue with the cacophony of a Tom Waits riff. An adroit experiment that marries linguistic restraint to literary cool."
and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
"Sharp and driven by a droll wit...endearing and estranging...a sharp and wonderfully funny debut...these stories add up to something wonderful."
and#8212;Library Journal
"Renowned for his intricate collages, a suite of which are reproduced here in full color, Beach brings his great gift for unexpected juxtapositions to his brief yet richly evocative and crisply visualized tales. Linked by reappearing characters, these microdramas of malaise and desire have an outlaw element, wry humor, frissons of creepiness, and bursts of beauty. Drifting in time, Beachand#8217;s potent little stories tell of love and family gone horribly wrong, drunkenness and desperation, dreams and wonder . . . Beachand#8217;s concentrated improvisations are emotive, disarming, and resplendent."
and#8212;Booklist
"Holy shit! Those are great! ... May they last a thousand years and be chiseled in stone."
and#8212;Jonathan Lethem
"Lou Beach uses words with no sympathy for the reader. He beats us senseless with his brilliance."
and#8212;Terry Gilliam
"[Beach] understands narrative in a deep way."
and#8212;J. Robert Lennon
"Lou Beach is full of wit, mirth and intelligence."
and#8212;Gary Panter, Emmy Award-winning author of Jimbo in Purgatory
"In only a few sentences, he remarkably manages to evoke character, milieu and mood."
and#8212;Joe Frank, Peabody Award-winning radio personality
Synopsis
In a perfect pairing of talent, this volume blends 20 illustrations by Sis with Borges' 1957 compilation of 116 "strange creatures conceived through time and space by the human imagination," from dragons and centaurs to Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat and the Morlocks of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine."
Synopsis
In a perfect pairing of talent, this volume blends twenty illustrations by Peter Sís with Jorge Luis Borges's 1957 compilation of 116 "strange creatures conceived through time and space by the human imagination," from dragons and centaurs to Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat and the Morlocks of H. G. Wells's
The Time Machine. A lavish feast of exotica brought vividly to life with art commissioned specifically for this volume,
The Book of Imaginary Beings will delight readers of classic fantasy as well as Borges's many admirers.
Synopsis
The debut fiction project of an acclaimed artist and illustrator, 420 CHARACTERS is a collection of sharp and evocative miniature storiesand#160;first presentedand#160;as Facebook status updates.
Synopsis
Within this collection of miniature stories, entire worlds take shapeand#8212;some like our own, some hallucinatory fairylands--populated by heartsick cowboys, random criminals, lovers and drifters. In a dazzling narrative constellation, Beachand#8217;s characters contend with the strange and terrible and beautiful in life, and no outcome is certain. Begun as a series of Facebook status updates,
420 Characters marks a new turn in an acclaimed artist and illustratorand#8217;s career, and features original collages by the author.
About the Author
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), born in Buenos Aires and educated in Europe, was one of the most widely acclaimed writers of our time.
Andrew Hurley is professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan.
Peter Sís, an internationally acclaimed illustrator, author, and filmmaker, is a five-time winner of the New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year.