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Powell's Books: You'll Want to Bookmark This Page: 37 of Our Most Anticipated Books for Spring and Summer 2021 (1 comment)
The Powell’s purchasing team is here to share their most anticipated new releases for Spring and Summer 2021...
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The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror

by Daniel Mallory Ortberg
The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror

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ISBN13: 9781250113429
ISBN10: 1250113423



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Staff Pick

Daniel Ortberg — perhaps most famous for cofounding the wry and side-splitting feminist website The Toast — brings us his deliciously subverted collection of classic fairy tales that turn gendered expectations on their head. Hilarious, dark, deeply intelligent — in short, unmissable. Recommended By Cosima C., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

From Daniel Mallory Ortberg comes a collection of darkly mischievous stories based on classic fairy tales. Adapted from the beloved "Children's Stories Made Horrific" series, "The Merry Spinster" takes up the trademark wit that endeared Ortberg to readers of both The Toast and the best-selling debut Texts From Jane Eyre. The feature has become among the most popular on the site, with each entry bringing in tens of thousands of views, as the stories proved a perfect vehicle for Ortberg's eye for deconstruction and destabilization. Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children's stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief.

Readers of The Toast will instantly recognize Ortberg's boisterous good humor and uber-nerd swagger: those new to Ortberg's oeuvre will delight in this collection's unique spin on fiction, where something a bit mischievous and unsettling is always at work just beneath the surface.

Unfalteringly faithful to its beloved source material, The Merry Spinster also illuminates the unsuspected, and frequently, alarming emotional complexities at play in the stories we tell ourselves, and each other, as we tuck ourselves in for the night.

Bed time will never be the same.

Review

"Dark and dreadful and persistently clever. Ortberg bloodily turns familiar tales inside out." Rainbow Rowell, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Carry On

Review

"Ortberg’s sly, scathing renditions...strike directly at the heart....The book brings the shock of the new and the shock of recognition into play at the same time; it’s a tour de force of skill, daring, and hard-earned bravura." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Review

"A wholly satisfying blend of silliness, feminist critique, and deft prose makes this a collection of bedtime stories that will keep you up at night for all the right reasons." Kirkus (Starred Review)

About the Author

Daniel Lavery (formerly Daniel Mallory Ortberg) is an American author and editor. He co-founded the website The Toast and has written the books Texts from Jane Eyre (2014) and The Merry Spinster (2018) as well as Slate's "Dear Prudence" advice column. He also hosts the "Dear Prudence" podcast.

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Average customer rating 5 (1 comments)

`
SeattleBookMama , March 29, 2018 (view all comments by SeattleBookMama)
Mallory Ortberg’s feminist horror collection is bound to be the best short story collection of 2018, darkly funny, cleverly conceived and brainier than I realized when I signed on for it. Many thanks go to Henry Holt and Net Galley for the review copy, which I read free and early in exchange for this honest review. This title is for sale now. Ortberg takes well known children’s stories and fairy tales and injects sinister elements into them, sometimes starting with the exact wording of the story, cited in her end-notes, and then changing it a tiny bit at a time. You may not be able to pinpoint the exact place Ortberg goes off script; some of these are Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which are fairly sinister in the first place. She often combines the influence of a second fairy tale, and everything is beautifully documented at the back. At first I wondered if I would react badly to this; I am a grandmother of tiny children as well as a retired teacher, and these stories tread on sacred ground. But it’s done with such genius that all I can do is shake my head in admiration. Ortberg has created a masterpiece of feminist fiction replete with some of the best word smithery found in contemporary prose. It can be read at the surface level, just for your amusement—which is guaranteed to all that enjoy gallows humor—or as a scholarly endeavor. I expected this book to be full of darkly ridiculous stories themed around women’s issues. Instead it is even better,the best surprise of 2018.Highly recommended to all that appreciate great feminist fiction and enjoy dark humor.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781250113429
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
03/13/2018
Publisher:
HENRY HOLT & CO
Pages:
208
Author:
Daniel Mallory Ortberg
Author:
Mallory Ortberg
Author:
Daniel M. Lavery

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$17.00
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Ships in 1 to 3 days
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