Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces

I find it difficult to describe the appeal of this in a few short sentences - like Carter's other work it is fabulous, provoking and sexually charged. Here again are her enduring themes - domination and transformation ('Master'), the ultimately desireable loss of innocence ('Penetrating to the Heart of the Forest'), and forays into the dark, folk-tale regions she has navigated with such effect in past works.They are described as 'pieces' and justly so; but pieces that are remarkable, fascinating and lose nothing for their brevity and strangeness.

Yes: in FIREWORKS, Angela Carter manages to tell stories dealing with Japan, medieval torture tactics, incest, gender-bending, and mirrors (LOTS of mirrors). It's a beautiful book...only a glimpse into her imagination and only a small taste of her bizarre politics. And, as she explains in her afterward, these stories are not stories, but "pieces," "tales"--a nod to Poe or even to the Brothers Grimm. This is a very unusual--and rewarding--collection of writings.