Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories

I am a longtime admirer of Neal Barrett, Jr., and what particularly dazzles me about his work is its variety. He rambles from post-apocalyptic science fiction to outrageous comic fantasy and over the whole plain of speculative fiction in between, while also taking side trips to mystery and mainstream literature. Barrett's special talent is to use an equally dazzling array of literary styles, a different tone and verbal approach to each story, and always exactly appropriate for what's being said. Through it all, luckily, there are certain things we can depend on from Barrett: beautiful, detailed place descriptions; a bitter cynicism about human institutions; and a deep sympathy for the ordinary people being shoved around by cruel and callous overlords. Given the huge variety of work he does, a collection of Barrett's best short stories has to be a major event in science fiction. "Winter on the Belle Fourche" begins with a lone woodsmen tracking a party of Indians through a frozen wilderness. A surprise turn of events leaves him stranded for the winter with a strange woman in a remote mountain cabin. Drama builds from the tension between his rough-and-tumble ways and her deep Christian piety. The real joy, however, comes when her identity is finally revealed, and a delgihtful twist ending will have you chuckling for days. This is probably the best alternate history tale I've ever read. "Stairs" recalls the claustrophobic genius of J. G. Ballard, but with a more fantastic edge. The entire world is reduced to a crowded apartment complex. People live in cramped quarters, rarely venturing out into the hallways, where brutal authorities enforce inexplicable rules. "Highbrow" takes us to the California coast, where thousands of workers have labored for generations on a towering statue. Barrett spices this one up with little details: steam-powered aircraft, ornery overseas tourists, and a feud over who gets to carve the hairline. What makes this classic Barrett is the ambiguity surrounding the whole project. No one seems to know (or care) the reason the statue is being built. People dedicate their entire life to it and even get buried in it when they die, but the what, why, and when is left to our imagination.

You ever wonder what Mark Twain would be writing if he were alive today? Neal Barrett is simply THE best story teller this country has produced in the last twenty five years. Read any of these stories once, and they will remain with you for years. This guy is so good it hurts!

Be prepared for surreal writing which opens with vivid sunrises, closes with reflections on atmosphere, and provides a range of stories which at first glance have realistic settings, but quickly evolve into a special brand of fantasy writing. From the beautiful 'Cush', telling of a deformed child's ability to change the poverty-stricken world around him, to an unusual job hunt in 'Under Old New York', Perpetuity Blues excels in astounding twists on reality which will prove hard to predict and gratifyingly astounding.

This is a great collection of Neal Barrett's short fiction from the 80's and early 90's. Barrett's stock went way up during this period, in large part due to the stories collected here (but also because of the success of the novels "Through Darkest America", "Dawn's Uncertain Light", and "The Hereafter Gang"). The title story, "Perpetuity Blues" is a really odd gem. On the surface, there's not much to it, but it has really stuck with me for years since reading it. It's a funny thing, but Barrett has a way of bringing you into the world of his characters for just a brief moment. It's like being submerged. The settings are vivid and real, yes, but it's the characters that hook you and keep you with them long after the story is complete. "A Day at the Fair", another story here, also has that effect. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan or student of the short story form. Forget that many of these stories have genre trappings--this is great literature. The book itself, also, is beautful and well put together. Hats off to Golden Gryphon for giving these stories their due.

Perpetuity Blues And Other Stories is a showcase collection of Neal Barrett's superb literary talent. The author of more than forty novels and numerous short stories, Barrett's tales evoke that classic "sense of wonder" that separates the adequate hack from the truly gifted author. The speculative fiction featured here include Diner; A Day at the Fair; Sallie C.; Cush; Class of '61; Trading Post; Winter on the Belle Fourche; Stairs; Under Old New York; High Brow; Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus; High Fashion, Mummies, The Model Shop, (from the novel "The Hereafter Gang"); and the title piece, Perpetuity Blues. This very fine anthology is a "must" for all Barrett fans and is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys short stories which consistently defy categorization or convention.