The Redward Edward Papers

by Avram Davidson

Dust jacket design by Peter Rauch. The title novella, together with five stories in the science fiction and fantasy genre, each with an afterword by Davidson. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385020589
• ISBN13: 9780385020589
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Some gems and one clunker

Davidson is one of my favorite authors, and this selection includes one of his best stories, "The Lord of Central Park." However, I was disappointed by the title novella. I got the impression that Davidson was trying to imitate Michael Moorcock at his most ideosyncratic. The writing was sparkling, as usual, but I just wasn't enthralled by his point.I recommend interested readers to start elsewhere, perhaps with "the Investigations of Avram Davidson" or "The Phoenix and the Mirror," great short stories and a staggeringly original novel, respectively.

Erudite and Whimsical Fiction

This collection - originally published in 1978 - was my introduction to the writing of Avram Davidson, and perhaps the best thing I can say about it is that I will definitely be seeking out more of his work. There are six pieces included here ("Sacheverell", "The Lord of Central Park", "The Grantha Sighting", "The Singular Events", "Dagon" and " The Redward Edward Papers") and each is followed by an afterward written by the author in which he expounds, albeit cryptically at times, upon the origins of each story. I would describe Davidson's style (at least as represented by these stories) as erudite and whimsical. All of the pieces in this book contain these two elements - erudition and whimsy, that is - except, perhaps, for "Dagon". A terse and rather sinister little tale about a Western military man running afoul of Chinese magic, "Dagon" in my opinion is the standout story in this bunch. Another highlight for me is "The Lord of Central Park" - a delightful literary romp involving an expatriate European adventurer (the lord of the title who resides is a secret cave in New York's Central Park), Dutch river pirates, the Mafia, the Nafia (who operate a string of gumball and Indian nut machines), and assorted other characters in a plot to blow up the Brooklyn Navy Yard.Davidson's afterward to the entire book - in which he deals with the art of writing and the subject of finding one's own voice in that art - was also one of my favorite bits. The title piece is longer than the others and is really closer to a novella than a short story. It is perhaps the least accessible of the stories in this book - a basically plotless, non-linear, pseudo-autobiographical narrative concerning the exploits of the title character. It seems that Davidson is remembered primarily as a science fiction writer but don't let that classification fool you. Most of the tales here, while generally unclassifiable, run closer to fantasy than science fiction. A stimulating, amusing and enjoyable read, all in all.

Hilarious

Half of this book is very good short stories that also appear in several other collections. The rest is the complex & very funny Redward Edward papers, which are a series of short stories leaping around from various parts of Rufous Edward's life to earlier bits & to later bits. Wonderfully written & one of the best Davidson anthologies.