The Man Underneath: The Collected Short Fiction
With most of his brilliant and original work now out of print, this is the third volume in a series of the short fiction of R.A. Lafferty, one of science fiction’s most highly regarded authors. Volume three features a new introduction by Bud Webster.
Reviews
“While generally categorized as a science fiction writer, R.A. Lafferty was — to use the old phrase — sui generis. His gonzo stories, with their surrealist plots and jacked-up diction, revel in excess, bizarreness of every sort and parenthetical winks to the reader. You don’t so much read these absurdist tall tales as let them wash over you.”
“Indeed, all of the short stories, Lafferty’s primary métier, are getting reprinted. But they are not appearing in economical formats designed to attract newbies. Of the novels, both extant and unknown, we hear not a word. Still, what has been achieved is nothing to sniff at, and I, for one, am extremely grateful [...] You get tales that are at once postmodern and ancient; funny and tragic; capricious and predestined; broad yet subtle. They would seem to accurately convey the nonpareil mind and heart and weltanschauung of the writer himself.”