Asimov's Science Fiction (27 page)

You know how singer-songwriter Randy Newman often dons the lyrical guise of weirdos and oddballs when he sings, inhabiting those personae of his imagination so fully that naïve listeners often mistake his songs for flat-out declarations of Newman's own beliefs? (Castigating "Short People"? Who does he think he is!) Well, Kit Reed and her fictions remind me very much of Newman and his songs. She invents hypnotically eccentric and off-the-wall characters, often placing them in utterly bizarre, Kafkaesque situations, then dons each protagonist like a second skin for the duration of the story. Next time around, it's a totally different mask. But somehow, by gracing these grotesques with her sympathy and intelligence, she affirms their undeniable, existential commonality with the "normals" (are there really any such creatures? Reed seems to slyly inquire) and with her readers.

And also, paradoxically, just as with Newman, the essential gestalt of Reed emerges from the ofttimes savage and satirical impersonations. You feel you know her and her "preoccupations," as she labels them, intimately and clearly. Another writer who could do this was Tom Disch, although Disch's impersonations were always more cool and distanced and skeptical and cruel, the renditions of a lonely thespian ultimately aloof from humanity. Reed, however, is always right down there, reveling in the muck and mire of shared human existence.

Her career-spanning new collection,
The Story Until Now
(Wesleyan University Press, hardcover, $35.00, 464 pages, ISBN 978-0-8195-7349-0), illustrates Reed's talents in a big impressive package. This is a book you want to shelve right next to similar compilations by Ellison and Ballard, for instance.

The arrangement of classic stories here—six that have never before been reprinted show up as well—is not at all chronological, but instead usefully follows the roadmap of authorial "obsessions." For instance, the first three stories—"Denny," "The Attack of the Giant Baby," and "What Wolves Know"—all revolve around child-parent relations, while another trio—"Automatic Tiger," "Piggy" and "Song of the Black Dog"—concern mythic creatures and their role in human lives. Bopping from one of these thematic sets to another is like journeying through an archipelago of dreams, to borrow Christopher Priest's notion.

Besides being able to perfectly evoke modern speech and environments, Reed also exhibits a Shirley-Jacksonish love of the Gothic—"Family Bed"—and a flair for surrealism. Consider just the opening sentence to "Perpetua": "We are happy to be traveling together in the alligator." Her early stories, while neatly and cleverly constructed, might very well be surpassed by the looser, wilder, crazier stuff of recent years. That's the kind of career progression all too seldom seen, as writers tend instead to get fossilized and timid.

Finally, for grace notes, Gary Wolfe supplies a cogent introductory essay, while husband Joe Reed's eye-catching painting of a tiger looms boldly on the cover, making for one fine, must-have package.

Things slow down in the summer, till WorldCon. While you wait, though, check out DucKon, SoonerCon, the Locus Awards, WesterCon, InConJunction, ReaderCon (I'm there), DiversiCon and When Words Collide. Plan now for social weekends with your favorite SF authors, editors, artists, and fellow fans. For an explanation of con(vention)s, a sample of SF folksongs, and info on fanzines and clubs, send me an SASE (self-addressed, stamped #10 [business] envelope) at 10 Hill #22-L, Newark NJ 07102. The hot line is (973) 242-5999. If a machine answers (with a list of the week's cons), leave a message and I'll call back on my nickel. When writing cons, send an SASE. For free listings, tell me of your con five months out. Look for me at cons behind the Filthy Pierre badge, playing a musical keyboard. —Erwin S. Strauss

21-23—ConTerpoint. For info, write: c/o 5911 Veranda Dr., Springfield 22152 22152. Or phone: (973) 242-5999 (10 am to 10 P.M., not collect). (Web) www.conterpoint.org. (E-mail) [email protected]. Con will be held in: Gaithersburg MD (near DC) (if city omitted, same as in address) at the Hilton. Guests will include: Stone Dragons, A. Ross, L. Allcock, D. & J. Baker. SF/fantasy folksinging.

28-30—SoonerCon. (405) 310-9255. www.soonercon.com. Reed Conference Center, Midwest City OK. C. J. Cherryh, Tim Powers, more.

28-30—DucKon. www.duckon.org. Westin Chicago North Shore, Wheeling IL. Golden Duck awards.

28-30—ConTemporal. www.contemporal.org. North Raleigh Hilton, Raleigh NC. Pirate/western/SF mashup, looks like.

28-30—BaCon. www.ba-con.org. Columbus OH. "Weekend-long Convention Celebrating Geeks, Games, Tech and... BACON!!!"

28-30—Locus Awards. www.locusmag.com. Best Western Executive, Seattle WA. Connie Willis. Locus Magazine's annual awards event.

28-30—New York Faerie Festival. www.nyfaeriefest.com. Ouaquaga NY. Renaissance-faire-type event, featuring the fey folk.

4-6—GrangeCon. www.grangecon.org. Eden Resort, Lancaster PA. Low-key SF/fantasy relax-a-con; "hang out, talk shop, and eat."

4-7—WesterCon. www.westercon66.org. Sacramento CA. Griffith, Eskridge. The big annual Western SF/fantasy convention, 66th edition.

4-7—ConVergence, 1437 Marshall Ave. #203, St. Paul MN 55104. (612) 234-2845. www.convergence-con.org. Bloomington (Mpls.) MN.

5-7—InConJunction, Box 68514, Indianapolis IN 46268. www.inconjunction.org. Marriott East. Cherie Priest. "Strange New World."

5-7—North American Discworld Con. www.nadwcon.org. Marriott Waterfront, Baltimore MD. "The Turtle Moved!"

5-7—Finland National SF/Fantasy Convention. www.2013.finncon.org. Helsinki, Finland. P. Watts, A. de Bodard, J. P. Mäkelä, S. Ekman.

11-14—ReaderCon, Box 65, Watertown MA 02471. www.readercon.org. Marriott, Burlington MA. McHugh, McKillip. Written SF/fantasy.

23-25—PulpFest. www.pulpfest.com. Hyatt, Columbus OH. Celebrating Doc Savage, pulp heroes of 1933, 80th anniversary of Fu Manchu.

2-4—DiversiCon, Box 8036, Minneapolis MN 55408. www.diversicon.org. Best Western Bandana Square, St. Paul MN. Jack McDevitt.

2-4—When Words Collide, 3314 38th SW, Calgary AB T3E 3G5. www.whenwordscollide.org. Genre writing: SF, mysteries, romance, etc.

2-4—Shore Leave, Box 6809, Towson MD 21285. www.shore-leave.com. Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley MD. Guests TBA. Trek & media SF.

2-4—Harbour ConFusion. www.harbourconfusion.com. Saint John NB. SF, fantasy, horror, steampunk, anime.

2-4—Deadly Ink, 3308 Franklin Lane, Rockaway NJ 07866. www.deadlyink.com. New Brunswick NJ. For fans of mystery fiction.

16-18—SanJapan. www.san-japan.org. Convention Center, San Antonio TX. Arin Hanson, Martin Bilany, Richie Branson. Anime.

23-25—BuboniCon, Box 37257, Albuquerque NM 87116. (505) 459-8734. www.bubonicon.com. T. Powers, B. Weeks, D. Rowland, A. Beck.

23-25—NecronomiCon. www.necronomicon-providence.com. Biltmore, Providence RI. S. T. Joshi and others. Celebrating H. P. Lovecraft.

29-Sep. 2—Lone Star Con 3, Box 27277, Austin TX 78755. www.lonestarcon3.org. San Antonio TX. The World SF Convention. $160+.

11-15—IlluXCon. www.illuxcon.com. Allentown PA. Note new city. For fans and practitioners of the art of illustration, in all its forms.

13-15—SF: the Interdisciplinary Genre. McMaster Univ., Hamilton ON. Robert J. Sawyer, whose papers he's donating. Academic.

13-15—NautiCon. www.nauticons.com. Provincetown Inn, Provincetown MA. Age 21 & up only. Members only on hotel premises.

14-15—FantaCon. www.fantacon.com. albany.org. Marriott, Albany NY. No more information on this one at press.

19-22—BoucherCon. www.bouchercon.com. Albany NY. Guests TBA. The world convention for fans of mystery fiction.

14-18—LonCon 3. www.loncon3.org. Docklands, London UK. The WorldCon. £105/A,C,US$175.

SHEILA WILLIAMS

Editor

EMILY HOCKADAY

Editorial Assistant

MARY GRANT

Editorial Assistant

CARISA MCLAUGHLIN

Editorial Administrative Assistant

JAYNE KEISER

Typesetting Director

SUZANNE LEMKE

Assistant Typesetting Manager

KEVIN DORIS

Senior Typesetting Coordinator

VICTORIA GREEN

Senior Art Director

CINDY TIBERI

Production Artist

LAURA TULLEY

Senior Production Manager

JENNIFER CONE

Production Associate

ABIGAIL BROWNING

Manager Subsidiary Rights and Marketing

TERRIE POLY

Digital Publishing Manager

SANDY MARLOWE

Circulation Services

ADVERTISING SALES DEPARTMENT

[email protected] (Display and Classified Advertising)

Subscriber Services:
203-866-6688 Option #2

PETER KANTER

Publisher

BRUCE W. SHERBOW

Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing

CHRISTINE BEGLEY

Vice President, Editorial and Product Development

SUSAN MANGAN

Vice President, Design and Production

ISAAC ASIMOV

Editorial Director (1977-1992)

Stories from
Asimov's
have won 53 Hugos and 27 Nebula Awards, and our editors have received 19 Hugo Awards for Best Editor.

Please do not send us your manuscript until you've gotten a copy of our guidelines. Look for them
online at www.asimovs.com
or send us a self-addressed, stamped business-size (#10) envelope, and a note requesting this information. Write "manuscript guidelines" in the bottom left-hand corner of the outside envelope. We prefer electronic submissions, but the address for manual submissions and for all editorial correspondence is
Asimov's Science Fiction,
267 Broadway, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10007-2352. While we're always looking for new writers, please, in the interest of time-saving, find out what we're looking for, and how to prepare it, before submitting your story.

Asimov's Science Fiction.
ISSN 1065-2698. Vol. 37, No. 8. Whole No. 451, August 2013. GST #R123293128. Published monthly except for two combined double issues in April/May and October/November by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. One year subscription $55.90 in the United States and U.S. possessions. In all other countries $70.90 (GST included in Canada), payable in advance in U.S. funds. Address for subscription and all other correspondence about them, 6 Prowitt Street, Norwalk, CT 06855. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for change of address. Address for all editorial matters:
Asimov's Science Fiction,
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Asimov's Science Fiction
is the registered trademark of Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. © 2013 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications, 6 Prowitt Street, Norwalk, CT 06855. All rights reserved, printed in the U.S.A. Protection secured under the Universal and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial content in any manner without express permission is prohibited. Please visit our
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