First published 1994
A cabinet maker in modern Cairo discovers objects that bend reality. An alchemist in 18th-century Naples paints formulas on his ceiling that summon visions. Madmen wander through landscapes where thoughts take physical form. Planets develop consciousness and speak to their inhabitants. In an American frontier town, the dead refuse to stay buried and magic replaces law. These nearly sixty tales move freely between centuries and continents. Characters encounter transformations that blur the line between human and animal, between mind and matter. A shopkeeper finds that his wares change overnight. A woman discovers her reflection has begun acting independently. Scientists create new forms of life that question their creators. Each story operates by its own logic, where cause and effect follow dream rules rather than physical laws. The collection reveals worlds where desire reshapes flesh, where memory becomes geography, where the impossible feels inevitable. These are stories about boundary crossing, about the moment when the familiar becomes strange and the strange becomes necessary.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, fantasy, magical-realism
Vibes: atmospheric, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: magical-realism, surreal
Setting: Cairo, Naples, America
Period: 18th-century, Modern
162 pages · Hardcover · Dalkey Archive Press