An Open Letter to matociquala
Bear,
A few weeks ago you posted that the Del Rey Book of SF&F was out, and that you had a short story in it - ‘Sonny Liston Takes the Fall’ to be exact about the thing. And so I went and bought it. I work nights, so it’s easy enough to stay awake a few hours until the book store opens, especially now that it’s summer and there’s plenty to do. This morning, the first morning of a 10 day vacation, after stops at the nursery for topsoil and fertilizer and plants I stopped at my favorite local book seller and picked up The Del Rey anthology.
I want to be clear about this: I didn’t pick it up for any of the other stories. I *love* your Promethian stories, and the chance to snap up another one was too much to pass by. Now, mind you I’ve been a SF&F fan pretty much all my life - my grandfather weaned me on Asimov, my aunts hooked me on Tolkien and McCaffrey - so the finding of an author whose work grabs me and doesn’t just help pass the time is a wonderful thing.
I have to say that ‘Sonny Liston Takes the Fall’ is - despite its diminutive stature, a massive monster of a story. In 11 pages you give us a story of a man who gives everything he has in trade for a chance at something better for everybody else. You give us a brief Vonnegut reference, a reminder of the brilliance of Mark Knopfler (that’s a hell of a song, there) and the protest-folk of Phil Ochs, a clear-eyed look at how fighters and thoroughbreds are alike, and a hard-eyed look at the price the great athletes (man and equine) sometimes pay.
Quite a lot of territory to cover in a scant 11 pages Bear. And as always, you do it so well. There are references to references, and meanings inside of asides and I have to telll you that I’m really looking forward to ‘One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King’, because Jackie narrates as well as anyone, and nearly better than Matthew Magus.
Thank you for giving us lyrical prose, for stories that think, and for never, ever taking the easy way out. Sometimes, writers are thoroughbreds too.
A few weeks ago you posted that the Del Rey Book of SF&F was out, and that you had a short story in it - ‘Sonny Liston Takes the Fall’ to be exact about the thing. And so I went and bought it. I work nights, so it’s easy enough to stay awake a few hours until the book store opens, especially now that it’s summer and there’s plenty to do. This morning, the first morning of a 10 day vacation, after stops at the nursery for topsoil and fertilizer and plants I stopped at my favorite local book seller and picked up The Del Rey anthology.
I want to be clear about this: I didn’t pick it up for any of the other stories. I *love* your Promethian stories, and the chance to snap up another one was too much to pass by. Now, mind you I’ve been a SF&F fan pretty much all my life - my grandfather weaned me on Asimov, my aunts hooked me on Tolkien and McCaffrey - so the finding of an author whose work grabs me and doesn’t just help pass the time is a wonderful thing.
I have to say that ‘Sonny Liston Takes the Fall’ is - despite its diminutive stature, a massive monster of a story. In 11 pages you give us a story of a man who gives everything he has in trade for a chance at something better for everybody else. You give us a brief Vonnegut reference, a reminder of the brilliance of Mark Knopfler (that’s a hell of a song, there) and the protest-folk of Phil Ochs, a clear-eyed look at how fighters and thoroughbreds are alike, and a hard-eyed look at the price the great athletes (man and equine) sometimes pay.
Quite a lot of territory to cover in a scant 11 pages Bear. And as always, you do it so well. There are references to references, and meanings inside of asides and I have to telll you that I’m really looking forward to ‘One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King’, because Jackie narrates as well as anyone, and nearly better than Matthew Magus.
Thank you for giving us lyrical prose, for stories that think, and for never, ever taking the easy way out. Sometimes, writers are thoroughbreds too.