Friday, August 13, 2010

Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy

Volumes one and two have passed me by; the third volume, Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy edited by Kevin Brockmeier, was suddenly recommended for me by Amazon. With authors such as Stephen King, Peter Beagle, John Kessell and Lisa Goldstein, I just had to risk $14.95 (rather, the Sterling equivalent). Real Unreal consists of twenty stories, selected from a range of sources, including Fantasy & Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy and Strange Roads to the New England Review. Despite this book's publication date, 2010, the stories seem to have been harvested from 2008 magazines and books. The series was co-founded by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, and the overall editor is Matthew Cheney.

Usefully, Real Unreal also includes lists of further readings and other publications. Although called Best American Fantasy, not all contributors are American (but most are): one was born in Canada and lives in India (in a temple, apparently), another lives in Switzerland. The series obviously restricts itself to publications from the USA. Real Unreal is published by Underland Press.

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