Irish writer Edward J. M. D. Plunkett (1878-1957), the eighteenth Baron Dunsany, was one of English literature's most original talents. The author of many of the best fantastic tales in the language, he was also a great influence on other writers of the genre. American novelist H. P. Lovecraft wrote: " Dunsany's] rich language, his cosmic point of view, his remote dream-worlds, and his exquisite sense of the fantastic, all appeal to me more than anything...