Report to the Men's Club and Other Stories

This is the first book that I read from Carol Emschwiller. I read a short story of hers from another annual collection and thereafter desired to read more of her stories. Each of the 19 stories included in "Report to the Men's Club" are imaginative and original. For example, in "Mrs. Jones", one of two rivaling spinsters realizes that a strange creature has been visiting them at night. It is her bizarre reaction and plan that sets this story apart. Though she finds that the creature cannot speak, she entraps the manlike bat and refashions him as her husband. The ending is hysterical. In both "Foster Mother" and "Creature" the author finds the humanity in creatures that are clearly far from human. The story "Grandma" raised a lot of issues about what to do with superheros and superheroines when they have passed their prime. I really wish that this story was a little longer. If you like fantastic stories that make you think, have witty humor, contain thought-provoking surprises, and are satirical in nature, you will like this book.