Moe's Villa and Other Stories

Rating:
Summary: Okay, but somewhat empty
Review: James Purdy's new collection of fabulist or borderline fantasy stories is nicely written and nice enough. It just needs to be less nice. I bought this book on the strength of a glowing SF Chronicle review.

Unfortunately, none of the stories really has anything to say. The styling is nice, but the fantasy elements would have been better handled if Purdy were willing to either embrace the genre fully or really do more than just paint a nice atmospheric picture.

I recommend this book, but tepidly: it's a good read, but there is no reason to go out of your way to acquire it. You'd probably be better off acquiring the new Sam Delany collection "Aye, and Gomorrah" (granted Delany embraces the fantasy and sci-fi genres, and Purdy is a "mainstream" author).