by Alison Lurie
First published 1994
This collection gathers forty fairy tales written by British and American authors over the past century and a half. The stories feature familiar elements like princes and princesses, witches and dragons, talking animals, and magic objects, but writers transform these traditional components in distinctive ways. Some authors like John Ruskin and Oscar Wilde craft their tales to deliver social or spiritual messages. Others including Jeanne Desy and Richard Kennedy invert conventional fairy tale structures completely. Writers such as James Thurber, Bernard Malamud, and Donald Barthelme transplant classic fairy tale characters into modern settings to comment on contemporary society. The collection spans from lighthearted stories like Charles Dickens's "The Magic Fishbone" to darker works like Lucy Lane Clifford's "The New Mother" and Ursula Le Guin's "The Wife's Story." These tales demonstrate sophisticated literary craft while maintaining the wonder and enchantment that draws readers to fairy tales, proving the form remains vital in literature.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: folklore, transformation
Setting: Britain, United States
Period: 19th Century, 20th Century
474 pages · Paperback · Oxford University Press