McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales [Paperback]

That's why, if you haven't already, you should run out and find a copy of McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. The list of contributors alone should be enough to get your attention: Stephen King, Carol Emshwiller, Laurie King, Glen David Gold, Michael Chabon, Elmore Leonard, Michael Crichton, Neil Gaiman-and that's just a few of the many excellent writers contributing some truly excellent work to this anthology.

Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, one of the best novels of recent years, says in the introduction that he longed to get away from the "short stories, plotless and sparkling with epiphanic dew" that characterize so much of modern short fiction, and return to the great old days of the tightly-plotted tales in pulp magazines. So when Dave Eggers asked him to guest-edit his pomo quarterly, McSweeney's, Chabon jumped at the chance to bring his dream to life. To that end, this book has "pulp" written all over it, from the cover art (taken from an actual 1940 cover from Red Star Mystery Magazine), to the lurid exclamations of the cover copy, to the hyperbolic story summaries on the contents page, to Howard Chaykin's expressive illustrations; the whole creates a package designed to put one in mind of the pulps' heyday-and while the stories within aren't quite that spectacular, they're still damned impressive. I'll describe just a few of them here, due to space limitations as much as anything else--but bear in mind that these are by no means a representative sampling of this varied anthology, just a few of my favorites:

*"The Tears of Squonk, and What Happened After," Glen David Gold's heartfelt meditation on revenge;

*"Catskin," an eerie fairy tale by Kelly Link;

*Nick Hornby's "Otherwise Pandemonium," a great urban fantasy about a teenaged boy whose secondhand VCR shows him the future;

*"Weaving the Dark," by Laurie King, a creepy yet humorous mystery (whose illustration, unfortunately, gives the ending away);

*"Ghost Dance," a dark and grim horror-fest by Sherman Alexie;

*"The Martian Agent, a Planetary Romance," by Chabon himself, an excellent alternative history tale, very much in the vein of Michael Moorcock (himself a contributor), and a delightful closer for the anthology-with the promise of a sequel to come. Can't wait!

Other stories are good, though not perhaps the classics Chabon was hoping for-like Michael Chrichton's "Blood Doesn't Come Out," which is dark and effective though a bit unsavory, Moorcock's "The Case of the Nazi Canary," which is almost too clever and wry for its own good, Harlan Ellison's "Goodbye to All That," a reprint of a story he's already published (the lone exception in an anthology that promises the stories are all new, never before seen), and which is a retread of his Ronald Colman/Shangri-la/shaggy-dog-story-with-a-bad-punchline obsession. It's a decent story, but I would have preferred something original from Harlan. And Stephen King's "The Tale of Gray Dick," an excerpt from the most recent Dark Tower novel, is far more subtle than his usual fare, and less engaging because of it, though it does grow on you.

Probably the best story in McSweeney's is Rick Moody's "The Albertine Notes," a tour de force tale about a drug that allows one to relive memories. It's not unlike a Philip K. Dick story in sensibility, though in terms of writing and execution it's light years past even PKD's best work. The deeper you get into Moody's dark, atmospheric story (set in a near-future New York that is nightmarishly close to our worst surmises about what terrorism could do to it), the more it unfolds and envelops you; perceptions change, events shift, and reality itself goes up for grabs. The climax of the story, told in a Joycelike rush of prose that is one of the most thrilling, enthralling things I've read in years, must be read carefully to be understood; once you do so, I guarantee you a frisson you will remember fondly for a long time. In my opinion, "The Albertine Notes" is one of the best stories I've read in years.

If you love short fiction as much as I do, McSweeney's is for you. It's a multifarious, engaging, occasionally frustrating, but thoroughly excellent read, and one I hope you'll treasure for years to come. The best part is that a second McSweeney's book, likewise edited by Chabon, is due out later this year. If it's anywhere near as good as the first, I'm there.

I made a conscious effort to read each story and give each one a chance and there was really only one that I gave up on, mostly because it was too long. The best, for me, were the contributions by (no real surprises)Glen David Gold, Elmore Leonard, and Neil Gaiman. I was a little surprised by how much I didn't like the Stephen King story and editor Michael Chabon's contribution was also a bit thin. Indeed, Chabon's story seemed to exemplify what was wrong with the stories that just didn't seem to work. He tried too hard to capture the pulp spirit and in doing so ended up with an interesting story but not a very entertaining one.

I thought overall the book is worth reading, although I think perhaps it's better to read the stories piecemeal when your appetite for that type of story is piqued.

However, the depressing "literary" short story has become so pervasive that this form has even invaded genre short stories. I want a good story that compells me to read it from start to finish that has a satisfactory ending and characters I care about. If I can get it in a novel, I should be able to get it in a short story. There are plenty of other good anthologies out there, such as: Catfantastic series, Dragonfantastic series, Sword and Sorceress series, various mystery series, various mystery Christmas series, sci-fi, horror, romance, you name it. There's even a Maeve Binchy Christmas story anthology out there! Unless you actually enjoy those openended/atmospheric/depressing/"literary" stories, stay away from this book.

If you do choose to read it, I recommend sticking with the stories by Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Harlan Ellison, and Stephen King.