Mark Twain meets Isaac Asimov

Nov 2019
The Best of R.A. Lafferty - R.A. Lafferty ed. Jonathan Strahan – Gollancz, 2019
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One of the great things about SF is its embrace of the short story. There have been some true geniuses in the field - Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Kelly Link and Ted Chiang come immediately to mind. But ask many SF writers, and they will mention a name that is not so well-known: R.A. Lafferty. His general lack of recognition suggests that, like dark chocolate or continental coffee, he might be something of an acquired taste. Having read this book of what are generally regarded as his best stories, I have to say that this would seem to be the case. I enjoyed his original ideas and the unique ways in which he approached them, but they didn't have the emotional oomf that I found in the writers mentioned above.
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