Seven Men

I’ve read other short stories and essays by this guy and found them to be interesting and amusing, but admit to being confounded as to the reputation of his novel Zuleka Dobson. There are funny things in that novel, but it’s way past the sale date. This collection on the other hand, is something different. It’s a collection of short stories, created in the format of character vignettes -often concerning fictional writers. There is an odd blending of supernatural elements into the stories. They often feel Pythonesque in their absurdity, but feature lucidly observed social and cultural situations. This collection is well written, without drifting into any turn of the century tweeness, which has shown up in other things I've read by show more the author.
The story “Enoch Soames” which features a pact with the devil, time travel and a self referential punchline, is the one most frequently cited from this collection, but the literary rivalry “Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton:” which culminates in guilt driven ghostly apparitions, I found as surprising and compelling. Most of the stories have their own, off beat unusual charms. Worth a read. show less

Enoch Soames is a must-read for anyone interested in the art and culture of the 1890s.