Since I am in awe of Little, Big, I hoped for more from this collection of 4 stories, but these are still very strong. It begins with a just-so story of how the nightingale came to sing at night, but is actually a re-telling of the Garden of Eden, with Dame Kind (basically Mother Nature) replacing God. That is followed by the miniature novel Great Work of Time, that reinforces the feeling that Crowley's works best at length, with a tale of a English time-tinkering organization trying to keep the Empire going. Too melancholic to have the impact of Little, Big but still the strongest story in the collection. In Blue is set in a post Revolution world that may or may not be a utopia, founded upon an abstract theory of social action. It follows the gradual decline of a theorist in that subject, as he struggles to grasp some greater truth. Novelty is a piece of meta-fiction, as a novelist toys with ideas for his greatest novel -- on Novelty vs Security, maybe an alternate history of the Catholic Church, maybe something grander. I take this to be Crowley examining himself, perhaps with respect to Little, Big, since the Seventh Saint Bar & Grill makes a cameo appearance.

Recommended for lovers of fine writing. Less so for those looking for straightahead science fiction or fantasy. ( )

My first exposure to John Crowley, and so enjoyable that I can't wait to read the rest of his work. All four stories are excellent, showcasing different sides of Crowley: mythic fable, plotty sci-fi, character study, and meta-fictional introspection. That last is the title essay, a short piece that recalls something like Nicholson Baker's non-X-rated fiction.

The rest are longer, with the first a fable in the vein of Calvino's COSMICOMICS short stories, describing the naming of things and what that meant for the world. The second is the longest, a chronicle of men willing to do anything possible to preserve the British Empire, even tampering with world history itself. (This is one where Crowley flexes his world-building muscles, setting out some tantalizing ideas and following them to their conclusion.) and the third covers a man trapped in a static society, and asking why it should be so static after all. (The fourth actually covers Crowley coming up with this idea, making it an interesting coda.)

Anyways, these same stories are also included in the later collection NOVELTIES AND SOUVENIRS, so that may be an easier way to get ahold of them. For me, I found this book in a used bookstore and it turned out to be a good get! ( )

Read these while trying to muster wherewithal for Little, Big. Still have not read that, and do not remember this. Pity there's no review here, though... and the thing is, I coulda sworn I wrote one.... ( )