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A Spell for the Fulfillment of Desire
A Spell for the Fulfillment of Desire is a postmodern magical papyrus collecting the short fiction of Don Webb from around the globe, and presenting his unique views on sex, language, and fictioneering. Drawing from science fiction, linguistics, and the artistic concerns of post-Fluxus avant-garde, A Spell for the Fulfillment of Desire provides us tales which are sexy, funny, and thought-provoking. A cultural artifact from a different star, his work straddles many boundaries.
- GenresFictionShort Stories
147 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
82 people want to read
About the author
Don Webb
182 books68 followersDon Webb teaches High School English in a reform school in rural Texas by day, Creative Writing for UCLA Extension by night. He has a had a mystery series at St. Martin's Press, a series of books on contemporary and Late Antique magical practice from Runa Raven Press, and more than 300 published short stories of SF/F/H. His work has been translated into 11 languages.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 9, 2015
This collection of Don Webb's short stories (and a couple of quasi-fictional essays) is slim but contains some of the most unforgettable stories I've read anywhere.
Anyone with more than a passing interest in the history of modern English literature would appreciate "The Literary Fruitcake", in which Don connects unlikely dots between famed writers with his typical biting wit. "A Medical History" is possibly one of the saddest science fiction stories I've read; I could feel the protagonist's utter despair, loneliness and isolation as my own, every bit of them. (I wonder what on earth happened to "the doctor" though -- I could only surmise that he and the boy had become one organism through the surgical process.) You will also find several humorous, light-hearted pieces like "Nine Games You Can Play". In "After Abish", he uses the lipogram technique pioneered by Walter Abish in Alphabetical Africa; every single word in it starts with A. Despite this severe constraint, Don does manage to tell a crazy space opera featuring treacherous angels and android alligators.
But my favorite is "Mark 6:14-29, Matthew 14:1-12", a haunting retelling of the story of Salome and her Dance of Seven Veils. I simply couldn't erase its imageries from my mind -- I don't think I will ever!
Anyone with more than a passing interest in the history of modern English literature would appreciate "The Literary Fruitcake", in which Don connects unlikely dots between famed writers with his typical biting wit. "A Medical History" is possibly one of the saddest science fiction stories I've read; I could feel the protagonist's utter despair, loneliness and isolation as my own, every bit of them. (I wonder what on earth happened to "the doctor" though -- I could only surmise that he and the boy had become one organism through the surgical process.) You will also find several humorous, light-hearted pieces like "Nine Games You Can Play". In "After Abish", he uses the lipogram technique pioneered by Walter Abish in Alphabetical Africa; every single word in it starts with A. Despite this severe constraint, Don does manage to tell a crazy space opera featuring treacherous angels and android alligators.
But my favorite is "Mark 6:14-29, Matthew 14:1-12", a haunting retelling of the story of Salome and her Dance of Seven Veils. I simply couldn't erase its imageries from my mind -- I don't think I will ever!
Displaying 1 of 1 review