Bibliograph

Dangerous laughter, thirteen stories, Steven Millhauser

Type

Label

Dangerous laughter, thirteen stories, Steven Millhauser

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Literary Form

novels

Main title

Dangerous laughter

Medium

electronic resource

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Oclc number

429929281

Responsibility statement

Steven Millhauser

Sub title

thirteen stories

Summary

The collection is divided into three parts that fit seamlessly together as a whole. It opens with a bang, as "Cat 'n' Mouse" reimagines the deadly ritual between cartoon rivals in a comedy of dynamite and anvils --a masterly prologue that sets the stage for the alluring, very grown-up twists that follow. Part one, "Vanishing Acts," features stories of risk and escape: a lonely woman disappears without a trace; a high school boy becomes entangled with his best friend's troubled sister; and a group of teenagers play a treacherous game that pushes them deep into "the kingdom of forbidden things." Excess reigns in the vivid, haunting places of Part two's "Impossible Architectures," where domes enclose whole cities, and a king's master miniaturist creates objects so tiny that soon his entire world is invisible. Finally, "Heretical Histories" presents startling alternatives to the remembered past. "A Precursor of the Cinema" proposes a new, enigmatic form of illusion. And in the astonishing "The Wizard of West Orange" a famous inventor sets out to simulate the sense of touch -- but success brings disturbing consequences

Classification