Time Out New York, Best books of 2014
Book Riot, 2014and#8217;s Must-Read Books from Indie Presses
and#147;With dinosaurs and pink sisters, shadows and talking dolls, librarians and totems, Bernheimer presents haunting looks at mothers and daughters, the magic of childhood, and the power of illusion, fantasy, and dreams.and#8221;and#151;San Francisco Book Review
"Iand#8217;ll read anything [Kate Bernheimer] writes, and Iand#8217;ll undoubtedly learn more about myself and my own writing than from 100 other books. Truth is, I hope every young writer is lucky enough to discover a particular writer who speaks to her more than any other, a writer whose words reach out through the pages and touch her heart, the way Kate Bernheimer has done for me."and#160;and#151;Electric Literature
"Bernheimer manages to tickle the cerebrum without sacrificing surface pleasures."and#151;Star Tribune
and#147;As Tatar writes, in fairy tales children must find radical ways to and#145;survive a world ruled by adults.and#8217; This is our grim reality. And itand#8217;s the grim reality of these children at the border as well. Of course, not all endings are unhappy. Remember Hansel and Gretel? They manage to shove that witch in the oven, and they emerge from the forest ... alive.and#8221; and#151;All Things Considered, and#147;Surviving An Adult World In Fairy Tales, And Real Lifeand#8221;
"The intimacy of [How A Mother Weaned Her Girl from Fairy Tales] seems to reiterate that immediacy of the form and#151; disbelief is beyond suspended. . . disbelief is terminated."and#151;Waxwing Journal
and#147;[Bernheimer], an impassioned advocate for the relevancy of the fairy-tale genre, fills the whole strange, lovely book with such gems, reinventing traditional, timeless tales for new readers.and#8221; and#151;Time Out New York
"How a Mother Weaned Her Girl from Fairy Tales, deftly blends gloomy fairy tales with existential manifestos. Nine nimble stories confront a spectrum of suffering; loneliness, addiction, poverty, and death lay exposed with open language for all to interpret."and#151;Entrophy
and#147;[Kate Bernheimer] reminds us why she is reigning queen of the modern fairy tale.and#8221;and#151;American Microreviews
and#147;[A]n impressive array . . . the way the rules of realism are rewritten makes for a thrilling experience.and#8221;and#151;Vol. 1 Brooklyn
and#147;One might call Bernheimer a bit of a fairy tale activist. . . Fairy tales are compositesand#151;unnerving blends of fantasy and rationalityand#151;and as such, the stories they govern may lure you into their candied constructions, only to eat you alive.and#8221; and#151;Heavy Feather
and#147;The tale is in the telling, and this new collection of lyrical, exhilarating fairy tales makes use of the moribund, ruthless aspects of the Brothers Grimm and the lilting, calmative qualities of Mother Goose.and#8221; and#151;Largehearted Boy
and#147;[Bernheimer is] one of literatureand#8217;s foremost champions of the fairy tale.and#8221;and#151;Nylon
"Recommended if you like: offbeat, unusually structured stories; re-imagined fairy tales with a somewhat dark (but also whimsical) tone."and#160;and#151;Insatiable Booksluts
and#147;You cannot argue with a fairy tale. It is tautology as art form.and#8221;and#151;Slate
and#147;Gobble up these stories as you would a trail of bread crumbs that leads into the dark, magical woods of Kate Bernheimerand#8217;s imagination. Here you will be happily lost, sometimes afraid, often amused and always awed.and#8221; and#151;Benjamin Percy
and#147;A master of minimalist style, Kate Bernheimer taps into the poetry of fairy tales to reveal the dread that seeps into ordinary things as well as the redemptive power of language and story.and#8221; and#151;Maria Tatar,and#160;Chair, Program in Folklore and Mythology,and#160;Harvard University
"Kate Bernheimer's beautiful and daring stories do not lead us to familiar places. She miraculously collapses the distinctions between the quotidian and the wondrous, the enchanted and the cursed, and takes us into the dark woods to wander until we too can see each uncanny branch." and#151;Jenny Offill
"These aren't fairy tales, they're signposts for the lost--and strange lands await if you go their way." and#151;Ben Loory, author ofand#160;Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day
"How a Mother Weaned Her Girl from Fairy Tales is a remarkable compilation of stories: a girland#8217;s relationship with her shadow, a librarianand#8217;s secret home, a solitary boy in a cardboard house." and#151;Book Page
Past Praise for Kate Bernheimer
and#147;Hauntingly poetic. . . . By turns lovely and tragic, Bernheimerand#8217;s spare but captivating fables of femininity resonate like a string of sad but all-too-real and meaningful dreams. This is a collection readers wonand#8217;t soon forget, one that rede- fines the fairy tale into something wholly original.and#8221;and#160;and#151;Booklist
and#147;Imaginative . . . lean and lyrical writing . . . Bernheimerand#8217;s passion for fairy tales is evident in every story she spins . . . [her] work provides a refreshing contrast to most available fiction. It is no stretch to compare her to Aimee Bender or Kelly Link.and#8221;and#160;and#151;Library Journal
and#147;While Bernheimerand#8217;s tools and techniques are ancient, her materials are contemporary. . . . Itand#8217;s a fine writer who can demonstrate so perfectly how a primal form maintains currency in any era.and#8221;and#160;and#151;Review of Contemporary Fiction
"You didn't think fairy tales could be punk rock? Think again. Kate Bernheimer takes this classic genre and filters it with an eye for contemporary fashion, music, and conflicts. The result is at once nostalgic and astonishingly new." and#151;Bustle
"[Bernheimer's] new stories will astound you."and#151;The Masters Review
and#147;There is perhaps no living writer who more ferociously champions the fairy-tale tradition than Kate Bernheimer. Her work in the form is innovative, challenging, and always accomplished.and#8221;and#151;The Brooklyn Rail
Elegantly simple fairy tales where nonsense is as commonplace as violence from a master of the form.
Kate Bernheimer: Kate Bernheimer has been called "one of the living masters of the fairy tale.and#8221; She is the author of a novel trilogy and the story collections Horse, Flower, Bird and How a Mother Weaned Her Girl from Fairy Tales and the editor of four anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award winning and bestselling My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales and xo Orpheus: 50 New Myths. She founded and edits the literary journal Fairy Tale Review and lives in Arizona with her husband, the writer Brent Hendricks, and their daughter, Xia.