Modern Grimmoire: A Contemporary Anthology of Fairy Tales, Fables & Folklore from 36 authors and artists

Review based on ARC.

I love Grimm and I was very excited to win a copy of Modern Grimmoire.  Not really sure what to expect -- would these be new takes on old stories? new stories?  It was a combination.  A very dark, very angry combination of, as the subtitle states, fairy tales, fables and folklore.

Overall, I was very happy with the anthology.  It was a quick read, and each story very comfortably stands on its own.  I would recommend to anyone who has a penchant for all things Grimm, for people who are interested in dark fairy tales, folklore, and fables, and for those with a stomach for the, well, grim.  In other words, if the title is appealing to you, go ahead and pick it up.  The book does the title and the cover justice.

Again, overall, FOUR of five stars.

The anthology is comprised of mostly stories, a few poems, and a handful of pictures, each of the stories I review below (reviews, not synopses.. they are short so summarizing practically retells the story, which is unfair and unnecessary):

- The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and the Princess was one of the highlights of the anthology.  It tells teh story of an ex-royal painter, who is called into court to do a particularly sensitive and confidential job for the King.  The painter is shuffled down to the basement, and is locked in a room to do his work.  I will not spoil what the painting is of or how the story progresses, but the story had the flavor of classic Grimm, with its own dark twists.  The characters were well portrayed, even in the few pages, and the story was intriguing and complete.

- Night People, in Summer.  I think this was my favorite.  I loved the magical realism aspect of this one, and I thought the tone was just right for a slightly creepy, slightly nostalgic Grimm.  The author took the ordinary life and added not only magic and supernatural intrigue, but also a light element of danger. I wouldn't mind seeing this "ghost" story in longer form some day.

 - The Black Widow.  This one was incredibly creepy, very well written, very creepy.  Did I say creepy twice?  I talked about this one to everyone who would listen while I was reading it.  It stayed with me while I was hiking a beautiful trail in Taos NM.  It was very well written, and completely brought the reader into the folds (or, should I say, web?) of the story effortlessly.

- Isle in Man: This was interesting and, again, really well done.  This is the kind of story that could be blossomed into a novel or even a movie.  It's kind of super-hero'y and kind of X-Men'y, with a lot of heart.  It leaves the reader with a lot of questions, and with a desire to know what happend NEXT? and BEFORE?  The title didn't really do the tale justice... not that I can think of a better one, I just didn't like it as a match to the story.

- Something Gold: Oh this was very well done.  I love how the author started each new phase with the same phrase.  I love how the tale was unsettling and squirmy.  I love the quick but not choppy progression from one phase to the next.  I didn't love the end as much, but I appreciated that there WAS an end... some sense of closure (without actual closure... just the prediction of one).

- Gourmaundeth:  I am not sure why the typefont was formatted the way it was.  This was almost more poem than it was story.  I think the formatting was to show the disjointed, choppy thinking of the narrator.  Which worked.  It gave the story a lack of direction and a confusion that worked for the ultimate story.  While I didn't love this one, it definitely did fit in the anthology and did not detract from the mood.

- The Mirror Child: this is another story with great ambiance and tone.  I loved the fairy tale'ness of this story.  It had a classic feel to it, while adding the new twist.  Although I felt that the ending was a little convenient, I also appreciated it.  Overall, a great story with a neat little "package" epilogue at the end.

- The Music Box:  Fun.  This one was a fun tale - I loved the light heartedness aspect, the modern-day relatability to dating. and the cute twist at the end.

- Fish: This was an interesting concept -- take the marriage of a mermaid to a human, and tell it from the mermaid's perspective.  I thought it was just heartbreaking enough, and just hopeful enough.  Another one that I would enjoy seeing developed into a novella or even a novel.

- Bury me in Faerie:  This story was a sad story, but, again, had a hopeful air to it.  Throughout the story and even at the end, there is the air of possibility.  And although the characters are grieving and their lives seem difficult and sad, there is hope.  It was a nice little story.  Not my favorite, but sweet.

- Arowana: I felt that this was a story with a lot of promise, a lot of interesting and intriguing concepts, and I just did not love the direction it ultimately took.  This one probably falls more squarely under "Fable" than the others, so the path makes sense. It just fell a little for me, turning from a story with great promise, to a lesson, perhaps well learned.

- Starlight!:  This story was flippant and had an undertone of cruel to it.  The characters are almost completely non-endearing, but intentionally so.  The perspective is almost that of making the exalted humdrum.  I guess I did not love this one because I felt that perhaps it went just a little too humdrum.  No point to the story other than to say, hey, maybe these kings and queens, they're just like us.  Interesting concept, but I would like liked even a little bit of a plot.

Detours: A Suburban Fairy Tale:  I really enjoyed this one.  It had questions that were raised throughout.  Some of the questions were kind of answered, but the mystery of the characters was kept and relished.  I really enjoyed how this one "ended" - I am impressed with an author who can end a short story well, and this one accomplished it.

Catspaw:  I enjoyed this tale and the overall story that was told.  It is another that felt more classic in tone.  I was a little annoyed while reading it, even though I both appreciated the possible alternative paths and even though I completely understood what the author was doing and why.  I just like reading stories.  Ultimately, after I had read the whole story, however, it WAS complete, a story well told, and an ending that I could appreciate.

- The Wolfman's New Gig:  Cute.  At first I was confused about what was happening, which was intentional and well done.  The progression of the story, the very modern and very real elements of marriage and relationship that were interjected, and the conclusion that took it right back to Grimm were all very well coordinated.  The building up of the characters was expertly done, with every new action taken both a complete surprise and completely expected.  This is another one of the standouts in the anthology.

- Persuasion:  very disturbing.  Definitely a modern, dark twist on the classic tale.  It was well done, but I did not love it.

- Henry's Tale:  I liked this slightly feminist twist on the classic Hansel & Gretel.  It was almost like reading a "this is what REALLY happened" of the story, which seemed to explain the motivations, actions, and perspectives of the original tale even better.  I really liked his Gerta.

- The Storyteller's Jig:  This felt like an intro to a story.  A very interesting story, but just an intro.  At the end of the tale, I was just left wanting to know something, ANYTHING, about what supposedly happened next.  Is the man safe? is he human? is the story good? do kids die? does anything happen???? I felt like there were TOO many questions left unanswered -- to the extent that it just wasn't a story.  As I said, just an intro.  But the writing style was good... otherwise, I wouldn't have any questions, would I...

- Through the Diamond Blues:  This story was a very innocent simple tale.  The "villain" is sweet and innocent, the protagonists are sweet and innocent, and even the "villains" "henchmen" are kind of sweet and innocent.  The complications are easily resolved, and the lessons are easily learned.  I felt that the ending was just a little *too* convenient (can ONE wish include the word "and" in it?), but it was sweet and fine.

- Bring It, Bernadette: Loved it.  At just over a page, this story packed a lot of punch and a lot of twisted psyche in.

- The Library:  Ooh, yes, I also loved this one.  This was another good ambiant, creepy story with lots of questions and few answers.  Although the tale is left incomplete, it is done so at the right time and in the right way so as to leave the reader still thinking about the story, but satisfied.  It was confusing, and weird, and just perfectly intriguing.

- Misery and Blue: eh. This was definitely a modern take on the origin of words.  But it felt a little juvenile.  When I was in elementary school, I was assigned a project to write a fable, and I wrote one that explained the origin of the oceans of the earth, which included crying... This felt a lot like that.  The story was more mature of course, particularly since it involved infidelity and abuse, but I expected something a little more unique.  It was cute, it was fine, just did not really impress.

With regard to the pictures, they were fine - lending some ambiance to the stories.  My favorite by a lot was They Say Once the Trees Begin to Tremble It Is Too Late by Steven Ehret, on page 180.

With regard to the poems, they were also fine - lending some ambiance to the stories.  They were little views into the life of a Grimm character, or a brief explanation, or a slight twist on perspective.  I will add that I particularly liked the snark in Colleen Michaels' The Pea Defends His Position.  I will also add that the Four Grimm Tales, Revisited, by Erin Virgil, was a well-done, interesting twist on the four tales.  Enough said in these four little mini-poems to twist the original stories completely around.

2-Fer: IOU: New Writing on Money edited by Ron Slate and The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot

Received IOU as part of the mission of Concord Free Press.

Thank goodness for Meg Cabot, because after finishing IOU, I felt ready to put off reading for the foreseeable future. It's not that it was bad, it just draaaaaaagged. A few of the stories within were even quite engaging, but overall, it was difficult to keep going. But keep going I did, and here are my thoughts.

The book is comprised of short stories (some in the form of "advice"), poems, and two interviews. All of the pieces deal with money in some form. If you like poetry or spoken word, you may actually enjoy a good portion of the book. If I am going to read poetry, however, it should be moving, engaging, not just a series of short phrases, truncated for appearance-sake, about something not-that-surprising or unique. But, like I said, if you enjoy reading poetry, you will probably enjoy at least half of this book.

The two interviews are interesting. One is with a woman who was involved in a bank robbery in 1970 (Katherine Ann Power) and the other is with a woman who pled guilty to embezzling a couple hundred thousand dollars from her bank-employee (Donna Lee Munson). If not insightful (though the second certainly was), the interviews were entertaining.

And then the stories. These really varied, story-to-story. If I may be allowed a moment to go through, briefly, the stories w/ my quick thoughts... (if you would like to skip this section, please proceed to the Boy Next Door review, below):

• Interest by Michelle Huneven: It is a slow read, hard to get involved, but I appreciated the pay-off. No real climax, but an interesting view of father-daughter interaction wherein the daughter has asked her father for assistance purchasing a home.
• Tycoon by Michael Greenberg: I start to realize that this type of short-story does not necessarily have a point. I liked some of the information therein, though - the perspective of a man who briefly entered the stock market.
• Dear Yale by Jess Row: I actually loved this one, though it was also a slow-read. The story interchanges between a letter from Yale asking for contributions and a "response" from the old man who delves into his private and what should be embarrassing stories before his answer.
• Income by Dolly Freed: I hated this one. It was advice in the form of a "story"?
• Free Meals by Jonathan Ames: Pretty uninspired story about an adult who needs money from his/her parents. Like hearing a story from a friend where you smile politely at the end.
• From Ghostbread by Sonja Livingston: Another somewhat entertaining but pointless read from the perspective of a child whose mother has the collectors calling.
• Coins by Mona Simpson: I did not like this at all - the perspective of the foreign nanny in a big city. It was just a stream of consciousness with the point, of course, being that foreign nannies are respectful and their employers are shallow, pointless, rich people. And I say this with a sister who is a nanny and coming from a family that has never been affluent enough to afford one. I am not in defense of those families (or on the other side of the fence, as it were), but come on. Cliche.
• The Entrepreneurs by Tony Eprile: This was interesting. A Zulu man desiring to be rich seeks his answer in the form of a "secret" from a washed-up teacher and finds trouble. The story is interesting and rewarding.
• Poetry and Blue Jeans by Jenny Boully: I did not like this one either. It was another hate-the-Man, companies are evil, feel bad story. I know. These stories need to exist to establish sympathy or at least awareness. But, again, show some originality in your presentation.
• Broadway Taxes by Geoffrey Becker: Wonderful. Well-told and interesting. A man seeks to sell his tax-preparation business.
• Local Money by Douglas Rushkoff: Again, not a story. I mean, maybe the "writings" did not need to be in the form of fictional stories, but that was what I had been anticipating. Maybe that was my bad... But interesting information explaining the benefit of "local money" (complementary money).
• An Inheritance by Dan Pope: This was interesting with a good "conclusion" (short stories don't really seem to "conclude," do they). A man deals with his aunt's illness.
• Immorally Bankrupt by Augusten Burroughs: This was a very short, fun little story. As expected.
• The Back of the House by J.C. Hallman: Very interesting story of a dealer in a casino.
• Nannies, Maids, and Money by Kate Clanchy. This was from the perspective of the employer and it was a little more original. I enjoyed the story and the information - it was morose but somehow hopeful.
• The Price of Waterfalls by Michael Guista: A man makes money instead of pursuing his passion. Not terribly interesting or original.
• Sixty per Bird by Samantha Peale. I really enjoyed this story about a prodigal artist and the one who sells out to pay the rent.
• Old Money by Terese Svoboda: In the end, the story was interesting. As in, looking back on it, I like what it did. But while reading about the two spinster sisters, I was uninspired.
• The Price of a View by Castle Freeman, Jr: A story about buying property with nothing surprising or particularly informative (unless, I suppose, you know nothing about property).
• Plunder by Jane Delury: I loved this one. The story is about an elderly couple with the husband very ill. The story weaves around the past and present and draws the reader into the pain. I actually cared about the characters in only 12 pages.
• Where the Money Went by Kevin Canty: Interesting. Well done in the less-than-2-pages.

As you can see, overall, the book was disappointing because my feelings were often summed up with: "so, what's your point." Overall, 2 of 5 stars. Because some of it was really good. But, I needed something interesting, stat!

Along came The Boy Next Door. This was the first book by Meg Cabot I have read. I am glad I did! I read the book yesterday evening. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram called it "A fast, addictive read." Indeed it was.

The book takes the form of emails. The entire story is told through emails. It's like those books written through letters or a diary. Except this one was well done. The story was complete but did not feel unrealistic. The emails were not so complete as to render them unrealistic, and yet all of the facts were disclosed in a timely and interesting manner.

Mel Fuller, gossip columnist for the NY Journal, meets her neighbor Max Friedland, who is really his friend John Trent "of the Park Avenue Trents" because of an attack on her elderly neighbor, Max Friedland's aunt and only living relative. Max, of course, is too busy to take care of his neighbor himself, which is why he sends his friend John in his place.

It was so enjoyable to read. The story was somewhat "fairy tale," but in a real-life kind of way. To top it off, there was also a mystery to be solved?! For a girl, at least, the story had it all: mystery, friendship, parent-interaction, job drama, and love. Highly recommend for a quick escape into a wonderful fantasy where men are somehow both sensitive and masculine. 4 of 5 stars.