The Best of Crank!

by Bryan Cholfin (Editor)

Gathers stories by Lisa Tuttle, Ursula K. Le Guin, Michael Bishop, R.A. Lafferty, Gene Wolfe, and Brian Aldiss

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 1998

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like to think I enjoy some subgenres like contemporary fairy tales and alternative sci-fi but as much as I wanted to enjoy this book I could not get into it. Many of the stories, I thought, would be hits but then I got lost in acid trip plots or experimental writing techniques which just ruined the reading experience. Sadly I would not recommend this book to most readers.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My memory is like a sieve, so all I can remember is the story about the machine that can create whatever you want and one guy makes it create Santa Claus so he can punch him.

[Tanya Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book overall was alright mostly because of the small handful of great gems (my favourite being “The matter of Seggri”) and the other slightly bigger handful of "what did I just read” not so great gems. For what it’s worth since it is an anthology you can skip the ones that are honestly crazy for no reason other than just wanting to be weird and just read the compelling, different, yet still good ones. Overall I’m kind of disappointed because of how promising the beginning was compared to the stories presented towards the end.

[Melon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I search for stuff that I will enjoy but will pull me out of my comfort zone--I think this may be the first anthology that I actually finished. Even the stories I would have rated a one-star read didn't stop me from going on to the next one. Bizarre fiction, but better done than any I've read before! There are a couple I'll be re-reading for sure.

**This was a random find at a small town used book store in Texas.**

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any short story collection, there are going to be some that hit and some that leave you cold. That's how taste works baby! That said, this collection was in the 90th percentile of proportion of hits to misses for me.
Personal favorites were "The Matter of Seggri," "The Happy Prince,""Mood Bender," and "I Don't Care Who Keeps the Cows."

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Variable in quality. Many of these stories are dense and inscrutable; which is great and which is pretentious twaddle may be in the eye of the beholder. Jonathan Lethem turns in the amusing "Mood Bender", collaborates with one Carter Scholz on the slyly self-referential "Receding Horizon" in which Franz Kafka writes for a displeased Frank Capra, and puzzles us with "The Happy Prince", a weird fairy tale about a handsome gold robot who scraps himself in order to make a great number of dildos for his beloved community. "Food Man", "Santacide", and "Clap If You Believe", which is about a normal-sized guy's courtship of a Tinkerbell-sized pixie, are great. There is a lot of filler, though

[Sarah Ganzhorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best of Crank! is an excellent collection of stories that bend genre and defy labeling. Ranging from curt and humorous to oddly surreal, the tone of each piece is as different from the others as a cashew in a can of mixed nuts. This can of nuts, though, contains everything from cotton candy to habanero peppers; in short, it's quite a concoction. If you like to read, you will like The Best of Crank!

[Griffith Ruck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely wild selection of stories, but they are each quite enthralling in their own ways, with premises that are certainly unique if nothing else (some I genuinely felt like I was going insane while I was reading them, but like in a good way). I very much found myself captivated by some of these stories, and will have to look up a few of these writers.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great bunch of bizzare short stories. To be honest, I can't remember which stories are in this book, but I know I talk about them on a regular basis. They stuck with me.

[John E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got right CRANKY reading these stories. If this the new world of speculative fiction, it's time to find a new area to read.