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With Motherless Brooklyn0 (1999), Lethem, then one of sf's fair-haired boys, crossed over big time to mainstream fiction. In The Fortress of Solitude 0 BKL Je 1 & 15 03, however, a magic ring was the central device in an otherwise naturalistic context. So is Lethem forging ahead in the mainstream or crossing back to genre ground? In these nine stories, both. "The Vision," "Vivian Relf," and "Planet Big Zero"--all about coincidentally reencountering old, or at least persistent, acquaintances--could become fantastic but don't because the plaintiveness they aim for runs counter to genre strengths. "The Spray" and "Super Goat Man," however, about less fortuitous reencounters, employ fantastic elements to put the satiric screws to their characters. "The Dystopianist," a jape on the rivalry between two sf writers; "Access Fantasy," a huge-single-paragraph tour-de-force that might have been written by the dystopianist; and even the off-kilter comedy sketch "The Glasses" would be at home in any au courant sf/fantasy anthology. "The National Anthem," cast as a letter between old, philandering friends, is New Yorker0 all the way. --Ray Olson Copyright 2004 Booklist

Like Lethem's bestselling novel The Fortress of Solitude, this collection blends the literary with the fantastical, probing themes of loneliness, failed relationships and the consequences of strange powers. These nine stories, starring comic book heroes and regular folks, are steeped in melancholic nostalgia, absurdist humor and a sly air of cultural critique. The strongest combine character studies with extraordinary elements: in "The Spray," police investigating a robbery in a couple's apartment leave behind an aerosol spray that reveals missing items as glowing images, which the couple subsequently use to find out more than they wanted to know about each other. In "Super Goat Man" and "The Vision," real and imaginary superheroes become the focus for the dashed hopes of characters who can't help feeling spiteful at their loss of innocence. Lethem delves into Borges and Kafka territory in some stories, notably "The Dystopianist, Thinking of His Rival, Is Interrupted by a Knock on the Door." In this surreal fable, a writer of bleak futures invents the perfect literary weapon to defeat his utopianist enemy, only to have it show up on his threshold. "Access Fantasy" is the most straightforwardly science fictional, set in a future when people live in their cars, immobilized by a citywide traffic jam. Stylistically varied, inventive, accessible, Lethem's stories offer a fine appetizer for fans hungry for his next big thing. Agent, Richard Parks. (Nov. 2) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A world where people reside in apartments or in an interminable traffic jam? One of many really weird stories from Lethem (not entirely surprising). (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Tales that mix the atmospheric Brooklyn settings of novels like Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude (2003) with the fantastic backdrops of earlier, SF-inflected works like the author's Amnesia Moon (1995). Even the most realistic stories here allude to the comic-book world where Lethem's characters always find joy and meaning, and odd adventures take place behind brownstone facades. "The Vision" chronicles a dinner party involving some rather sinister group games, including one called "I Never" that the narrator introduces to expose his host's childhood immersion in an alternate identity as a Marvel Comics superhero. "Access Fantasy," strongest of the SF pieces, paints a creepily just-plausible future world that's divided by a "One-Way Permeable Barrier" between have-nots who live in cars stalled in an eternal traffic jam and the privileged folks who have actual apartments. After watching an "Apartment on Tape" (the entertainment of the dispossessed) that seems to show a murder, the narrator volunteers to wear an Advertising patch that lets him cross the barrier so he can tout Very Old Money Lager to strollers in the Undermall, but his efforts to investigate the murder just get him sent back to the street. Other substantive efforts include "Planet Big Zero," about a comic-strip artist awkwardly reconnecting with a high-school pal who reminds him how safe and smug his life has become, and "Super Goat Man," a brooding story whose title character emerges from an obscure comic book into hippie-ish Brooklyn in the 1970s, then becomes a professor at a New Hampshire college, where disaster ensues. "The Glasses" offers a short, sharp jab of racial tension, "The Dystopianist" a dark blend of real and surreal. Perennial Lethem themes abound, from failed love affairs to the disintegration of childhood friendships. No story is less than intelligent, though the author's fans will miss the deeper explorations he makes in his longer works. A marking-time-between-novels book: pleasant enough, but newcomers to Lethem would do better to start with Motherless Brooklyn (1999). Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

With Motherless Brooklyn (1999), Lethem, then one of sf's fair-haired boys, crossed over big time to mainstream fiction. In The Fortress of Solitude [BKL Je 1 & 15 03], however, a magic ring was the central device in an otherwise naturalistic context. So is Lethem forging ahead in the mainstream or crossing back to genre ground? In these nine stories, both. "The Vision," "Vivian Relf," and "Planet Big Zero"--all about coincidentally reencountering old, or at least persistent, acquaintances--could become fantastic but don't because the plaintiveness they aim for runs counter to genre strengths. "The Spray" and "Super Goat Man," however, about less fortuitous reencounters, employ fantastic elements to put the satiric screws to their characters. "The Dystopianist," a jape on the rivalry between two sf writers; "Access Fantasy," a huge-single-paragraph tour-de-force that might have been written by the dystopianist; and even the off-kilter comedy sketch "The Glasses" would be at home in any au courant sf/fantasy anthology. "The National Anthem," cast as a letter between old, philandering friends, is New Yorker all the way. ((Reviewed September 1, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

A world where people reside in apartments or in an interminable traffic jam? One of many really weird stories from Lethem (not entirely surprising). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Funny, strange, and sometimes impenetrable, Lethem's new collection of stories (after The Fortress of Solitude) deals in themes of loneliness, missed connections, and betrayal, set against futuristic and near apocalyptic backdrops. Despite this, the stories never feel heavy or particularly dark the writing is playful, and the narrators are keenly aware of the absurd. Lethem is undoubtedly a writer of many and great talents not least of which the ability to make us laugh even when we're not really sure what's going on but sometimes his stories veer too far into the esoteric and threaten to lose us. This might otherwise be termed challenging but sometimes feels merely alienating, as in "The Dystopianist, Thinking of His Rival, Is Interrupted by a Knock on the Door," a somewhat convoluted tale of literary rivalry and suicidal sheep (on the other hand, if the title makes you smile, you'll probably find the story a delight). Still, sure to be in demand, this collection is recommended for large public libraries and all experimental fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/04.] Tania Barnes, Library Journal Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Like Lethem's bestselling novel The Fortress of Solitude, this collection blends the literary with the fantastical, probing themes of loneliness, failed relationships and the consequences of strange powers. These nine stories, starring comic book heroes and regular folks, are steeped in melancholic nostalgia, absurdist humor and a sly air of cultural critique. The strongest combine character studies with extraordinary elements: in "The Spray," police investigating a robbery in a couple's apartment leave behind an aerosol spray that reveals missing items as glowing images, which the couple subsequently use to find out more than they wanted to know about each other. In "Super Goat Man" and "The Vision," real and imaginary superheroes become the focus for the dashed hopes of characters who can't help feeling spiteful at their loss of innocence. Lethem delves into Borges and Kafka territory in some stories, notably "The Dystopianist, Thinking of His Rival, Is Interrupted by a Knock on the Door." In this surreal fable, a writer of bleak futures invents the perfect literary weapon to defeat his utopianist enemy, only to have it show up on his threshold. "Access Fantasy" is the most straightforwardly science fictional, set in a future when people live in their cars, immobilized by a citywide traffic jam. Stylistically varied, inventive, accessible, Lethem's stories offer a fine appetizer for fans hungry for his next big thing. Agent, Richard Parks. (Nov. 2) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.