Synopses & Reviews
Containing Startling Revelations of the Lives of Everyday Persons; also, Truthful Accounts of Living Fossils, Montavarde's Camera, The Irradiodiffusion Machine, and El Vilvoy de las Islas; with Heinous Crimes, Noble Ladies in Adversity, Brilliant Detections, Imperial Eunuchs, Political Machinations, &c., &c. Avram Davidson, who died in 1993, was widely regarded as one of the most outstanding authors of short fantasy fiction in our time. In 1998, Tor published The Avram Davidson Treasury, a definitive collection of his work in all genres. It won the Locus Award for Best Collection. Now, with The Other Nineteenth Century, Grania Davis and Henry Wessells have compiled a new collection focusing on Davidson's distinctive historical fantasies-tales of strange Mitteleuropas, of magic in Victorian England and on the American frontier. Here are "the Lineaments of Gratified Desire," "Traveller from an Antique Land," and "What Strange Stars and Skies"; here are dragons, cameras, and "The Singular Incident of the Dog on the Beach." Witty, whimsical, dark, and strange, these tales of times and places that almost were will leave even the most jaded readers amazed. No one has ever written like Avram Davidson, before or since.
Review
“The rediscovery of Avram Davidson is a true resurrection.” —Guy Davenport,
Harpers“Wonderfully eclectic and literate...A wonderful cross-section of one of the fields most undeservedly obscure geniuses.” —Publishers Weekly
“Davidson was beyond question one of the unjustly neglected writers of the 20th century, an author of immense talent.” —Gene Wolfe
Synopsis
A New Collection of Long Out-of-Print Stories From One of the Greatest Fantasists of the Twentieth CenturyAvram Davidson, who died in 1993, was widely regarded as one of the most outstanding authors of short fantasy fiction in our time. This collection comprises his distinctive historical fantasies-tales of strange Mitteleuropas, of magic in Victorian England and on the American frontier. Here are "The Lineaments of Gratified Desire," "Traveller from an Antique Land," and "What Strange Stars and Skies"; here are dragons, cameras, and "The Singular Incident of the Dog on the Beach." Witty, whimsical, dark, and strange, these tales of times and places that almost were will leave even the most jaded readers amazed. No one has ever written like Avram Davidson, before or since.
About the Author
Avram Davidson was born in Yonkers, New York, in 1923. After spending some time at New York University, he served in the Marines from 1942 till 1946--and again saw action during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. For two years in the early 1960s, Davidson edited
Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine. He earned awards and accolades throughout his life for his SF writing, including the Hugo Award, the Edgar Award, the Ellery Queen Award, and three World Fantasy Awards. Davidson died in 1993.