These thirteen tales are populated by an assortment of fictional as well as real characters, all of them vividly sketched and true-to-life: the botanist Linnaeus, the composer Offenbach, the poet Hart Crane, the visionary horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, a southern sheriff, a dealer in rare books, a country singer, an old maid (and her suitor), and a mathematician. Whether these stories are deemed disquieting, comic, prophetic, or tall in the telling, they show us worlds where the truth reveals itself in many shapes. Throughout the writings comprising More Shapes Than One, Fred Chappell's storytelling magic transforms the commonplace.
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From Publishers Weekly
Prolific poet and novelist Chappell ( Midquest ; Brighten the Corner Where You Are ) is a Southern writer whose baroque, eloquent style pays little heed to minimalist trends. Some of the 13 stories here, many published originally in journals, offer fanciful fictional portraits of such disparate figures as Offenbach, Linnaeus and Hart Crane ("Barcarole,""Linnaeus Forgets," "Weird Tales"). Others, mostly about plain folks with names like Uncle Alvin and Miss Prue, are equally surreal and filled with fantastic goings-on. In the alternate world of the disturbing story "Alma," cowboys drive strings of "shoats," which turn out to be women, who are treated as cows or slaves. (Piers Anthony's science fiction story "In the Barn" may have been an inspiration.) Chappell's writing is in the tradition of Ambrose Bierce and H. P. Lovecraft; florid ironies are coupled with dense and inexplicable, sometimes macabre twists of plot. Something in the flow of words and images cloys, though, and Chappell, while tremendously gifted, exhibits a self-consciousness that can get between the reader and these stories.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Chappell, author of Brighten the Corner Where You Are ( LJ 8/89), has written 13 marvelous stories about truth and the many shapes it takes in human experience. Even Carl Linnaeus, Jacques Offenbach, Hart Crane, and H.P. Lovecraft are not exempt from its twists and turns, and ordinary folks in these tales encounter some revealing oddities: a 500-yard-wide dream blocking a highway, a book that has the power to alter great literature, the chance to experience a reality stranger than science fiction, and a visit from a deceased suitor looking for some answer. Each story stretches the boundaries of the imagination with sparkling prose, delightful humor, and a few truths of its own. Chappell is a talented writer who deserves a wider audience. Recommended. --Jacqueline Adams, Carroll Cty. P.L., Westminster, Md.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By "wasper9"
Format:Paperback
Fred Chappell's book "More Shapes Than One" is an excellently written collection of short stories. Each of the 13 stories is very unique and independant of itself. Each work has its own genre, its own theme, and its own message. The stories are extremely descriptive and very well presented. The book can also be viewed in its entirety. The book mostly deals with the nature of humanity and the elation and the pitfalls that can come as a result of human nature. "More Shapes Than One" is also a testament to Chappell's creativity and flexibility as a writer. However, this book is very different from most of Chappell's other works. Most of his other books are very realistic, but one of the best aspects of this book is the way that Chappell uses magic realism, but still manages to maintain the believablility of his characters. This is an extremely good book from many perspectives. Whether you read for mental release, enlightenment, or just for fun, I would highly recommend this book. This is a book that anyone can read, understand, and enjoy.
By Randall Ivey
Format:Paperback
In fact, Chappell is probably the great unheralded American writer alive today. Skilled as a novelist and poet, his work is by turns funny, lyric, horrifying, erudite, and folksy, and no where else is that more apparent than in this collection. Speaking of horrifying, read "The Adder", a Borgesian like tale of a mysterious tome that devours other books it comes in contact with - not just particular copies but the books themselves. It's one of the best stories of its kind I've ever read. And "Linnaeus Forgets" is a jewel of equal shine.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Weird and fantastic shapes
Jun 15 2006
By Richard R. Horton
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
More Shapes Than One is a 1991 collection of short fiction from Fred Chappell, a novelist and poet, and a writer often concerned with the fantastic or weird. All but a couple of the stories here are at least to some extent fantastical, and a couple stories directly concern horror/fantasy writers.
The first couple of stories reminded me of Byatt's _The Biographer's Tale_, which I recently read, in their subject matter: "Linnaeus Forgets" is of course about Linnaeus, and "Ladies of Lapland" about an exhibition to Lapland. Both are fun stories with a certain density of obscure historical facts (as I assume): the first about Linnaeus receiving a very strange plant from a sailor; the second about a French geographer travelling to Lapland and seducing a number of Lapp women.
"The Snow That is Nothing in the Triangle" is a curious story about the mathematician Feuerbach -- it didn't no much for me. "Barcarole" is about the composer Offenbach encountering a dying musician with a resemblance to himself, and about a long-loved tune of Offenbach's youth. A nice story. "Weird Tales" is about H. P. Lovecraft, Hart Crane, and a strange associate of both, Samuel Loveman, who discovers a means of visiting Antarctica in other times -- as when the Elder Gods ruled ...
One of my favorite stories is "The Somewhere Doors". This concerns a barely successful pulp writer in the late 30s and 40s, who encounters a strange woman with a very unusual message for him. This eventually gets him in trouble when the government decides the woman is a Communist -- but she may have given him an out in the form of the title doors. My other favorite story is "Duet", possibly the only non-fantastical story in the book, about an old-time musician reacting to the death of his friend and fellow musician.
"The Adder" is a clever story about a copy of the Necromonicon in the original Arabic, and its baleful effects on neighboring books. "Ember" is straightforward horror about a man who murders his girlfriend and tries to escape, with predictable (to the reader) results. "Miss Prue" is a very short story about an elderly woman and her relationship with her long time suitor. "Mankind Journeys Through Forests of Symbols" is a very fun story in which unwritten Symbolist poems can take tangible form, and one blocks traffic in rural North Carolina. "Alma" is pretty solid SF about gender roles -- set in a world where men and women are treated as basically separate species, with women quite literally enslaved and sold by some of the men. And "After Revelation" is apparently set in the future, after a couple of holocausts, in a world where science is proscribed -- then the "Owners" come, offering complete knowledge and happiness.
This is a very fine collection of stories.
The first couple of stories reminded me of Byatt's _The Biographer's Tale_, which I recently read, in their subject matter: "Linnaeus Forgets" is of course about Linnaeus, and "Ladies of Lapland" about an exhibition to Lapland. Both are fun stories with a certain density of obscure historical facts (as I assume): the first about Linnaeus receiving a very strange plant from a sailor; the second about a French geographer travelling to Lapland and seducing a number of Lapp women.
"The Snow That is Nothing in the Triangle" is a curious story about the mathematician Feuerbach -- it didn't no much for me. "Barcarole" is about the composer Offenbach encountering a dying musician with a resemblance to himself, and about a long-loved tune of Offenbach's youth. A nice story. "Weird Tales" is about H. P. Lovecraft, Hart Crane, and a strange associate of both, Samuel Loveman, who discovers a means of visiting Antarctica in other times -- as when the Elder Gods ruled ...
One of my favorite stories is "The Somewhere Doors". This concerns a barely successful pulp writer in the late 30s and 40s, who encounters a strange woman with a very unusual message for him. This eventually gets him in trouble when the government decides the woman is a Communist -- but she may have given him an out in the form of the title doors. My other favorite story is "Duet", possibly the only non-fantastical story in the book, about an old-time musician reacting to the death of his friend and fellow musician.
"The Adder" is a clever story about a copy of the Necromonicon in the original Arabic, and its baleful effects on neighboring books. "Ember" is straightforward horror about a man who murders his girlfriend and tries to escape, with predictable (to the reader) results. "Miss Prue" is a very short story about an elderly woman and her relationship with her long time suitor. "Mankind Journeys Through Forests of Symbols" is a very fun story in which unwritten Symbolist poems can take tangible form, and one blocks traffic in rural North Carolina. "Alma" is pretty solid SF about gender roles -- set in a world where men and women are treated as basically separate species, with women quite literally enslaved and sold by some of the men. And "After Revelation" is apparently set in the future, after a couple of holocausts, in a world where science is proscribed -- then the "Owners" come, offering complete knowledge and happiness.
This is a very fine collection of stories.
4.0 out of 5 stars
More Themes Than One
April 27 2000
By "wasper9"
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Fred Chappell's book "More Shapes Than One" is an excellently written collection of short stories. Each of the 13 stories is very unique and independant of itself. Each work has its own genre, its own theme, and its own message. The stories are extremely descriptive and very well presented. The book can also be viewed in its entirety. The book mostly deals with the nature of humanity and the elation and the pitfalls that can come as a result of human nature. "More Shapes Than One" is also a testament to Chappell's creativity and flexibility as a writer. However, this book is very different from most of Chappell's other works. Most of his other books are very realistic, but one of the best aspects of this book is the way that Chappell uses magic realism, but still manages to maintain the believablility of his characters. This is an extremely good book from many perspectives. Whether you read for mental release, enlightenment, or just for fun, I would highly recommend this book. This is a book that anyone can read, understand, and enjoy.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An marvelous collection by a master storyteller and stylist
July 6 1999
By Randall Ivey
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
In fact, Chappell is probably the great unheralded American writer alive today. Skilled as a novelist and poet, his work is by turns funny, lyric, horrifying, erudite, and folksy, and no where else is that more apparent than in this collection. Speaking of horrifying, read "The Adder", a Borgesian like tale of a mysterious tome that devours other books it comes in contact with - not just particular copies but the books themselves. It's one of the best stories of its kind I've ever read. And "Linnaeus Forgets" is a jewel of equal shine.
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Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
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