Reviews
"This definitive collection of Carrington's short fiction is a treasure and a gift to the world. A stunning achievement."-Jeff VanderMeer, "Complete Stories, a collection of Carrington's published and unpublished short stories--many newly translated from their original French and Spanish--is a terrific introduction to her bizarre, dreamlike worlds."--NPR, "Her stories are vivid, funny and surprisingly fresh...[combining] satire with surrealist situations to deftly mock the pomposity of organized religion, sexual repression or the endless forms of bureaucratic hypocrisy and ineptitude."--The New York Times, "Her protagonists speak to gods, monsters, parents, and strangers in the same fearlessly ironic voice. Irrational or horrible things happen to people in these stories just as they do in fairy tales, dreams, the Bible, and real life. Intending to destroy dualistic viewpoints, Carrington offers no glib moral judgments."--The Village Voice, "Carrington's stories are optimistic and nihilistic, beautiful and grotesque, tender and cruel. She never contented herself with something simple or trite, a philosophy of life that can be shortened and simplified and put in a fortune cookie."--Sheila Heti, "Carrington's stories are optimistic and nihilistic, beautiful and grotesque, tender and cruel. She never contented herself with something simple or trite, a philosophy of life that can be shortened and simplified and put in a fortune cookie."-Sheila Heti, "Complete Stories, a collection of Carrington's published and unpublished short stories-many newly translated from their original French and Spanish-is a terrific introduction to her bizarre, dreamlike worlds."-NPR, "A menagerie of eccentric humans, bloodthirsty talking animals, and hybrid creatures is on display in her fantastic, and fantastical, collection of stories."--Publishers Weekly, "Her protagonists speak to gods, monsters, parents, and strangers in the same fearlessly ironic voice. Irrational or horrible things happen to people in these stories just as they do in fairy tales, dreams, the Bible, and real life. Intending to destroy dualistic viewpoints, Carrington offers no glib moral judgments."-The Village Voice, "Her stories are vivid, funny and surprisingly fresh...[combining] satire with surrealist situations to deftly mock the pomposity of organized religion, sexual repression or the endless forms of bureaucratic hypocrisy and ineptitude."-The New York Times, "Kathryn Davis's wonderful introduction to this complete collection (published in conjunction with the centennial of Carrington's birth) is a satisfying piece on its own, delightedly preparing the reader for a writer bestowed with a satisfying mix of the most wicked yet tender of visions."--Entropy, "This definitive collection of Carrington's short fiction is a treasure and a gift to the world. A stunning achievement."--Jeff VanderMeer, "Carrington's prose is precise and droll, even when translated from French or Spanish. Her best stories glory in fantastic rebellion against gender constructs and class even as they tend toward shock and tragedy...a key work in the history of literary weirdness."--Kirkus, "Kathryn Davis's wonderful introduction to this complete collection (published in conjunction with the centennial of Carrington's birth) is a satisfying piece on its own, delightedly preparing the reader for a writer bestowed with a satisfying mix of the most wicked yet tender of visions."-Entropy, "In both her prose and her visual art, Carrington dissolves the borders between human and inhuman, fantasy and reality, death and life. In The Complete Stories we meet a mad queen who uses squirming live sponges to wash herself; a corpse that casts a circle of light in the forest; and a horse-woman who lives among plants and animals because humans won't accept her hybrid state. Whenever Carrington's heroines are forced to pledge allegiance, they always choose the company of beasts."--Joy Press, Los Angeles Times, "Leonora Carrington, the surrealist storytelling genius you've never heard of", "In both her prose and her visual art, Carrington dissolves the borders between human and inhuman, fantasy and reality, death and life. In The Complete Stories we meet a mad queen who uses squirming live sponges to wash herself; a corpse that casts a circle of light in the forest; and a horse-woman who lives among plants and animals because humans won't accept her hybrid state. Whenever Carrington's heroines are forced to pledge allegiance, they always choose the company of beasts."-Joy Press, Los Angeles Times, "Leonora Carrington, the surrealist storytelling genius you've never heard of", "Leonora Carrington has unswervingly followed the intensity of her own particular vision and way of being...Her work bristles with a fierce, unconventional brand of feminism; anger gives it its final edge of irony and power."-Angela Carter, "Leonora Carrington has unswervingly followed the intensity of her own particular vision and way of being...Her work bristles with a fierce, unconventional brand of feminism; anger gives it its final edge of irony and power."--Angela Carter, "The Complete Stories and Down Below are both remarkable books; read together they are almost overwhelming. The Carrington centennial should stand as one of the great literary events of 2017. I know that I will be pressing these books on friends, family, and acquaintances for years to come."--Tor.com, "Carrington's prose is precise and droll, even when translated from French or Spanish. Her best stories glory in fantastic rebellion against gender constructs and class even as they tend toward shock and tragedy...a key work in the history of literary weirdness."-Kirkus, "The Complete Stories and Down Below are both remarkable books; read together they are almost overwhelming. The Carrington centennial should stand as one of the great literary events of 2017. I know that I will be pressing these books on friends, family, and acquaintances for years to come."-Tor.com, "A menagerie of eccentric humans, bloodthirsty talking animals, and hybrid creatures is on display in her fantastic, and fantastical, collection of stories."-Publishers Weekly
