Hearing that this book made the 2005 James Tiptree, Jr. Award short list, I was curious. Bender's writing fascinates and horrifies me; I have a love/hate thing for her novel An Invisible Sign of My Own. I've heard that short stories are her forte, so I was uber-curious about this collection. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

What is gripping about these stories is the simple, quiet horror that steals across the pages. What can I say that everyone hasn't said before? Each story left me with a sick sinking in my stomach; you know what is coming and you can't avert your eyes. And if you don't know, if you can't imagine, you are trapped reading to the end until you find out exactly how awful it will be. After finishing this volume, I had to stop reading for a few days. I didn't want to keep the feeling but I didn't want to let it go, not exactly. I had to sit with it, remember the stories a few more times, then walk away, uneasy. ( )

Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender (2006)

Any word that Aimee Bender writes, I will read and love. And this was no exception. ( )

A woman wakes to find 7 potatoes in a pot on her stove. She tries mailing them to Ireland where potatoes come from. They are returned into their pot the next morning. She puts them in traffic to be run over. They return again. The potatoes are growing. Finally, she eats one and buries two others. Then there are four. Nine months later, the potatoes crawl out of a pot, walking. This is just one of the fascinating and dreamlike stories in this book.

Short fiction and magical realism are two genres that work so well for each other and Willful Creatures is a wonderful example of such. From the title of the book to the cover to the table of contents with all these uniquely titled stories to the words and ideas within, everything about this book appeals to my sense of intrigue and imagination. I want to read this book slowly and savor it because I'm not sure what to do when all the stories are over. After I read each story, I try not to just forget it and let it go as it is easy to do with short fiction. The 2nd story, depicted on the cover about the little man was a fascinating depiction of human nature.

http://12frogs.com/reading/reviews/20... ( )