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synopsis

In a career that began in 1959 and continued until his death in 2002, R.A. Lafferty garnered the admiration of authors and editors including Robert A.W. Lowndes, Harlan Ellison, A.A. Attanasio, Gene Wolfe, Michael Swanwick and many, many others. His body of short fiction is comprised of well over 200 stories and, despite his vast popularity, there was never a concerted effort made to produce a comprehensive collection of his short fiction, until now.
       Welcome to the fifth volume of the Lafferty Library, a series that will run to a dozen volumes and collect all of R.A. Lafferty’s short fiction. As with all previous volumes, this collection, assembled by series editor John Pelan, brings together a delightful blend of the familiar, the esoteric, the known and the obscure. In this volume you’ll find his well-known characters, such as The Men Who Knew Everything; represented here by “Mud Violet” and “Barnaby’s Clock”; the wondrous Argos Mythos (considered by many to be among Lafferty’s finest works), are featured with a rare treat, the novella “How Many Miles to Babylon?”, which has never previously appeared in any R. A. Lafferty collection. We even feature an appearance by that most venerable of think-tanks, The Institute for Impure Science, with the novelette “Flaming Ducks and Giant Bread.”
       From the enthusiastic introduction by Michael Kurland and the titular novelette from 1978, and all the way back to Lafferty’s second prose sale, “Adam Had Three Brothers,” this volume also includes an interview conducted with Lafferty by Robert J. Whitaker and an afterword by series editor, John Pelan. There’s bound to be something here for all Lafferty fans and plenty of material to create some new ones!
       The three hundred signed copies (signed by Michael Kurland, John Pelan, and Jacob McMurray) are reserved for those that are purchasing the entire set. If you order and have received unsigned copies of the previous volumes, you will also received an unsigned copy of The Man Who Walked Through Cracks. This title is selling very quickly! Volume 6, due late this year, will feature a new introduction by Neil Gaiman. Now is the time to get on board this important series!