What if the world ended on your birthday — and no one came? What if your grandmother was a superhero? What if the orphan you were raising was a top-secret weapon, looked like Godzilla, and loved singing nursery rhymes? What if poet laureates fought to the death, in stadiums? Emshwiller’s books (Joy in Our Cause, Carmen Dog, Ledoyt, and others) have won her a devoted cult following. Her short fiction is about women and men, monsters, obsessions, art, and falling in love. She writes witty, humane, endearingly odd stories that play with all the genres and conventions you can put a name to — science fiction, Western, romance, postmodern, tabloid, literary — and some that haven’t even been invented yet. Suspect that life is much stranger than anyone ever admits? Buy this book. Unhappy in love? Buy this book. About to visit the dentist or embark on a long voyage? Buy this book. Troubled by dreams you can never quite remember in the morning? Buy this book. Love good short fiction? Buy this book.

Grandma The Paganini of Jacob’s Gully Modillion Mrs. Jones Acceptance Speech One Part of the Self is Always Tall and Dark Foster Mother Creature The Project It Comes from Deep Inside Prejudice and Pride Report to the Men’s Club Overlooking Water Master Abominable Desert Child Venus Rising Nose After All