Magic for Beginners, by Kelly Link

I have a confession to make: I stalked Kelly Link while she was in Austin for World Fantasy Con in 2006. How could I not?

My friend J. saw this book sitting on the couch and asked if I was learning how to do magic. I said no, it's a book of short stories.

But really it is much more than that.

Perhaps, in the reading of it, I have gleaned some knowledge into the paranormal, the quixotic, the hidden theme park adult playland for zombies and other recently departed and those dead souls waiting to be reborn. In finishing it, I feel I just came home from playing at my weirdest, coolest new friend's house, the one to which I thought I'd never get invited. I hope she lets me sit at her table for lunch tomorrow.

I'd read Kelly Link's short stories before, most notably her Nebula Award-winning "The Faery Handbag" from the teen anthology Faery Reel. And I'd seen ads for Magic for Beginners in various independent magazines I read, but it never occurred to me to pick it up until I read her unparalleled story "The Wizards of Perfil" in another teen anthology, Firebirds Rising (Sharyn November's Firebird series may not have Charles Vess's formidible artwork gracing its stories, but November is an editor with a keen eye and ear for teen fantasy and science fiction - and yes, I stalked her last fall at ArmadilloCon).

Magic for Beginners is one of those books that cannot stay within the boundaries of a single description.
-It is fantastical writing with a literary bent.
-It is a collection of literary short stories with an air of magic realism.
-It has zombies (but not the kind that eat your brain), and interview with a recently-divorced cannon (the kind that shoots people over the crowds), a haunted house guarded by rabbits (or is it the marriage that's haunted and are the rabbits preparing for war?), a not-so-nice fairy tale involving cats (or are they witches?), zombie contingency plans, metafiction, and stories within stories within stories that cycle back into themselves in such a way one could read the story forwards, backwards or even in a starburst pattern from the inside out.

Every story stands out with its perfection of literary style and unique subject matter. When I finished reading, I instantly started seeing connections and links where there probably aren't, but that's just me.

The book not only contains "The Faery Handbag", but another Nebula winner, "Magic for Beginners", a kind of metaphysical reading experience wherein we're watching the characters of a popular TV show interact through their obsession with a popular TV show. I did love this story, possibly a bit more than most of the others, but my personal favorite is "Stone Animals", in which a seemingly perfect family moves into a seemingly perfect house with a lawn heavily populated by a colony of rabbits. I will tell you no more than that.

These aren't happy stories. They're melancholy and best read between 2 and 4 a.m. while the zombies are at their local convenience store looking for things that aren't there and handing pajamas to the night clerk.

P.S. Yes, this is small press (a personal dream of mine--to open my own, not work at hers) and there are a couple of noticeable typos, but hey! it's small press, forgive a little. I know from experience, it's hard to edit your own work.

♠♠♠♠♠
On another front: If you're aware that Bob Saget is absolutely nothing like his character on Full House, love Sarah Silverman because she isn't afraid to cross any line, and aren't easily offended, rent The Aristocrats. It is one seriously demented and hilariously unvarnished look into the minds of today's best comics. Do not drink anything while watching this movie. Chances are, it will come flying out your nose. And seriously, if jokes involving shitting, pissing, fucking, incest, pedophilia, bestiality and stupid punchlines offend you, Do Not rent this movie and then come crying to me and telling me how sick and depraved I am. I already know that shit. It's a Joke, people, that is supposed to be as offensive as possible. Rent the movie. God wants you to.