Millhauser seems like several different people to me, so different are his short stories from one another. The title story of this short collection, for instance, is an imaginative trip into a penny arcade in an alternate universe, where the machines have a life of their own, a knowingness that only a 12-year-old boy can understand. “August Eschenburg” also deals with toys, in a sense, but the clockwork figures in this tale are never anything more than a form of art – though a very special form that soon becomes entirely dispensable to its erstwhile audience. How does the lack of an audience affect the artist? What does the artist do with himself, what is the meaning of his life, once no one appreciates his work any longer? Does that mean what he does is no longer valid work? This peculiar tale is a fascinating exploration of the transitory nature of work, art and life. “Cathay” sounds like a chapter from Calvino’s Invisible Cities, only told with a greater grace and beauty. And a few stories seem to be completely realistic, with no touch of the fantastic: “The Sledding Party,” for instance, about a teenagers’ winter bash, or “A Protest Against the Sun,” about a family’s outing to the beach on a hot summer day. These stories are extraordinary. ( )

An incredible blend of stories from August who makes incredible animated figures, to a magical trip to a penny arcade, and "Cathay" imaginary land.I love short stories and these are great ( )

Steven Millhauser's fanciful tales are a joy to read. In the tittle story, a boy enters the penny arcade alone for the first time to face his greatest fear... being outdrawn by the gunslinging cowboy. But as we grow up, do our fears get left behind?

In another story, a woman leaves for a retreat for the weekend to relax and get a little work and is confronted with another solitary woman who is broadcasting sadness. She can't seem to escape her... or herself.

The stories collected in here are about us facing ourselves. ( )