Fantastic Metropolis

My year’s best list is a vagabond’s list, a crazy-quilt of different subjects, styles, and genres. It does not pretend to be a conventional “year’s best” list because this has not been a conventional year for me. Due to constraints on my time, I could not indulge in voracious reading. (You will note a number of specific and general omissions, many grievous. I am currently, for example, still reading two wonderful books—Basbanes’ book on books, Patience & Fortitude, and Peter Ackroyd’s London: The Biography.) However, I still read a number of books, published loosely around 2000-2001, that, for me, stood up to the best of those previous years when I did glut myself on books. Some of these books may have gone undetected by the echo-location systems of many readers…

The Book of Prefaces, Alasdair Gray

(Bloomsbury)

As the title suggests, Gray’s book collects prefaces from as early as the 12th century and includes the prefaces to, among others, Frankenstein and Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark. Gray also traces the evolution of the English language through his selections. The unique typography, a Gray trademark, serves an important purpose, as he includes numerous notes on the texts presented. An eccentric masterpiece.

The Exploits of Engelbrecht, Maurice Richardson

(Savoy)

With an afterword by Michael Moorcock, a design by John Coulthart, and some of the original illustrations from Lilliput magazine, this reprint of the adventures of the surrealist sporting club’s most famous member was among most entertaining and beautiful of books published in the last couple of years.

King of the City, Michael Moorcock

(Morrow)

Moorcock’s “sequel” to Mother London opens with a marvelously inventive scene, itself worth the price of the book. Possessed of crackling energy and an astonishing attention to detail, King of the City rivals Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus for sheer imaginative power.

The Nefarious Circi of Harold Roper, Colin Thubron

(Morrow)

Better-known for his travel books than for his fiction, Thubron has produced a work of amazing power and scope. Set in the America of the late 19th century, the novel follows the (sometimes fantastical) exploits of Roper as he tries to maintain financial and creative control over three circuses that, having gathered in Detroit, make their separate ways to San Francisco, New York City, and New Orleans.

The Book of Leviathan, Peter Blegvad

(Overlook Press)

This collection of musician/artist Blegvad’s Leviathan cartoons follows the adventures of Levi and Cat-Levi being a faceless baby and Cat being a…cat. Originally published in The Independent, these cartoons come from a deeply surrealistic point of view. Impeccably drawn, in a variety of styles, the non-chronological, illogical logic of the characters makes this collection an avant garde Alice in Wonderland.

Ila, Richard Winters

(Impatiens Press, P.O. Box 11897, Philadelphia, PA 19128, USA)

Every few years, Winters puts out a self-published 5×8 hardcover of his fiction. Made to last, these books usually feature high quality cloth binding and a plain off-white or blue dust jacket bare of anything but the title and the author’s name. Winters’ work, set in his native Pennsylvania, is about ordinary men with extraordinary dreams who, even when they fail to achieve their dreams, attain a state of grace. These are not stories of drifters and sociopaths, but of farmers and the poor. There’s little dialogue in Winters’ stories. They use a kind of cleansing silence and depend heavily on atmosphere and close observations of mannerisms and reactions. Now Winters has a new book out called Ila. It tells the story of a man named Gall. It too is simple and beautiful and unique.

Dossier, Stepan Chapman

(Creative Arts Book Company)

Although not a definitive collection, Dossier does collect some of my favorite Chapman tales, including “Minutes of the Last Meeting,” “The Prison of Sod,” and “The Stairways of Causation.” Chapman’s has a manic imagination and an amazing eye for bizarre specific detail.

Toxicology, Steve Aylett

(UK: Gollancz, US: 4walls8windows)

Aylett’s collection offers a series of short, sharp shocks. From the faux “Metamorphosis” story “The Met Are All For You” to the hilarious “Bestiary,” the author subverts reader expectations to a liberating degree. Few writers working the field today are willing to eschew conventional three-dimensional characterization in pursuit of a dizzying array of compensatory pleasures.

The Making of a Classic: My Experiences Writing The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe

(Tower Publications)

In this fascinating volume, Wolfe sets out diary entries written during the creation of his landmark trilogy. The reader gains rare insight into Wolfe’s writing process and his interaction with his public. Notes such as “Is Severian too likeable?” and “Have I lapsed into self-parody” are of particular interest.

The Smell of Gyroscopes, Rhys Hughes

(Tartar Press)

Heir to such writers as Calvino, Hughes’ work defies easy categorization. The fantasy counterpoint to Aylett’s wonderful SF excesses, Hughes reworks myth, legend, and reader expectations to glorious effect. This “sequel” to his previous collection The Smell of Telescopes is every bit as worthy of awards consideration.

Cobwebs & Whispers, Scott Thomas

(Delirium Books)

The stories in Scott Thomas’ new collection, Cobweb & Whispers, lie among the pressed flowers found inside an old volume by M.R. James. They are delicate, exquisitely written, and possessed of a temperament somewhere between a bright summer day and a field of bee-buzzing clover shadowed by clouds. The collection is an excellent example of “quiet horror.”

The Živković Guide to Eastern European Football, Zoran Živković

(Samizdat Press)

This remarkable “guide” to football in Yugoslavia and other Eastern European countries is in fact an imaginary concoction. The book is a marvelous piece of sustained fabrication, including as it does accounts of games that never occurred, statistics from leagues that never existed, and profiles of players who never played the game. Originally written to entertain Živković’s twin football-playing sons, the Guide has now been released in England by Samizdat Press to wide-spread acclaim.