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American Ghosts & Old World Wonders

American Ghosts & Old World Wonders

Shortly before her death Angela Carter was preparing this volume of short stories, one which does full justice to the glory of her imagination and the range of her talent. It is divided into distinct parts. The first comprises a group of stories inspired by America: Lizzie Borden visits a circus; a John Ford Western is spiced with the story of 'TIS PITY SHE'S A WHORE' and there is a wonderful Gothic extravaganza set in Hollywood. The second section - OLD WORLD WONDERS - draws on fairy tales (Cinderella), on the story of Mary Magdalene, on the folklore of pantomime, on ALICE IN WONDERLAND, an on medieval legend. These stories represent Angela Carter at her most acrobatic and dazzling: erudite, witty, sexy and enthralling. A book to delight her many, many fans.

Reviews

  • Her sportive side is well represented... Carter loved those pantomime transformations she saw as capsizing fixed identity and hidebound morality. It seems apt that these stories, just as they join continents, should mingle styles and genres with promiscuous abandon.

    Observer

  • Hybrids of tale and critical essay, a reminder that Carter was also one of the finest discursive essayists.

    Scotsman

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About the Author

Angela Carter

Angela Carter was born in 1940 of a Scottish father and Yorkshire mother. She read English at Bristol University, and after escaping an early marriage went to live in Japan for a number of years. She wrote nine novels, which blend fantasy, science fiction and gothic, and is often referred to as a writer of magic realism. She died in 1992. Robert Lowell Coover (born February 4, 1932) is an American author and professor in the Literary Arts program at Brown University. He is one of America's pioneering postmodernists. Coover currently splits his time between the USA and London.

Angela Carter

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