A Holy Fool's Review of The Best of Michael Swanwick Volume 2

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Years ago, I kvetched to a freelance writer friend about a review I'd gotten where the reviewer had skimmed three chapters, misidentified the protagonist, and gotten wrong the gender of the person he thought was the protagonist.

"Other reviewers I know," he said, "think I'm a fool for actually reading the book, considering how little I'm getting paid."

So maybe the Locus are holy fools (though I assume they earn more than the pittance newspapers offer) for not only reading the books they review but thinking about them before they write down their reactions. 

One such fool is Russell Letson, who has not only given The Best of Michael Swanwick Volume 2  (Subterranean Press)  the review that I in my hubris think it deserves, but has also read and thought about and analyzed and commented on every story in the book. This is virtue above and beyond the call of duty.

At this point, it's traditional to quote the more effusive sections of the review, but I don't think that would be good for my already-exaggerated sense of self worth. So if you're curious, I'll simply point you to the review itself--here.

And maybe I should add . . .

Letson speculates that the frequent appearance of catalogues in my works--and I admit that it's a literary form I am fond of--is meant as a way of conveying the richness of the world. He's absolutely right about that. And his use of Robert Louis Stevenson's rhyme:

The world is so full of a number of things

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings

is spot-on.

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