Sleight of Hand

The lead-off story in this new collection is 'The Rock In The Park', one of a series of stories that Mr. Beagle wrote and narrated for the Green Man Review podcasts (They're all still online so go over and take a listen!). Each podcast relates a fantasy tale set in the 1940s-1950s revolving around a young Jewish lad (someone we know?) and his friends. This one is one of the best, dealing with the boys meeting up with a family of lost centaurs in a Bronx park.The title tale, 'Sleight Of Hand', is a semi-autobiographical story that deals with wish fulfillment and a unique form of time travel. This is the type of story that has a way of sneaking up on you.'The Children Of The Shark God' is a crackerjack story set in the Hawaiian isles before the coming of the white man. A brother and sister discover their father is the legendary Shark God and embark on a quest to find him and ask why he left their mother and them to fend for themselves.'The Best Worst Monster' is a short and previously unpublished tale originally intended for a children's book. It relates the story of a mad scientist, a la Victor Frankenstein, who creates a monster to avenge the petty slights he's endured throughout the years. However, his monster has a bit more conscience in him than his creator intended.'What Tune The Enchantress Plays' is a classic fairy tale, set in the world of 'The Innkeeper's Song' and deals with the conflict between a sorceress mother and her enchantress daughter. The differences between the two women's brands of magic are crucial.'La Lune T'attend' is a werewolf tale set in bayou country. The heroes are two elderly men (one white, one black) who are both tight friends and werewolves and who face a menace they thought they'd eliminated decades earlier. The evil is back, however, and hot on their, and their human families, trail.'Up The Down Beanstalk' is a tale written for a YA anthology that deals with someone who isn't quite as happy with Jack the Giantkiller as he is himself.'The Rabbi's Hobby' is the best story here and one of Beagle's best ever. A boy and his Rabbi discover a mysterious woman who keeps popping up in a series of old photos from magazines decades old. The two embark on a search for the alluring woman which leads them to a new friend and an old tragedy. Simply haunting.'Oakland Dragon Blues' is a fast paced and funny tale involving an Oakland cop and Mr. Beagle himself dealing with a dragon created by a slightly too vivid and somewhat pre-occupied imagination.'The Bridge Partner' is previously unpublished and a change of pace for Beagle as it is a straight crime story with no hint of fantasy. Still and all, it's one of the strongest stories in this collection, bringing to mind the dark crime stylings of Ray Bradbury, Stephen King and John D. MacDonald while remaining resolutely a Peter Beagle tale.'Dirae' is a warrior woman story, although the woman in question is bed-ridden and in a coma. The prose is a little tricky at the beginning but stick with it and this strong story's rewards will also stick with you.'Vanishing' is another strong entry, dealing with a man who has let incidents occurring in his youth at the Berlin Wall color, stain and largely destroy his family and his life. One day, sitting in a hospital waiting room, he gets a chance to revisit those memories at an eerie Ellisonian version of the Wall. What he encounters there may just show him the path to redemption.The final entry is a never before published solo story featuring Schmendrick (this tale takes place before the events in The Last Unicorn). It's called 'The Woman Who Married The Man In The Moon'. A wandering Schmendrick meets a young girl and boy and their mother, who tells him the story of the children's missing father. This is a warm, poetic, and meaningful story to end this volume with and it's one of Beagle's best tales to boot.All in all, this is an excellent collection--a worthy successor to the previous collections which include The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche, The Line Between and We Never Talk About My Brother (all still in print--look for them!). Beagle has been conjuring a whirlwind of beautifully rendered short stories in the last seven years. It's also some of the best work of his career. This collection is an stunning example of his talent and sense of wonder. Highly recommended!!!

I was predisposed to like this collection, because I love Beagle's writing and he is not exactly prolific! The care he takes to get everything just right really shows.These were all excellent stories, of a range of types; the only real connecting element is Beagle's skill. I enjoyed re-reading the ones I'd read before (only 2-3), and the new ones were wonderful!"The Bridge Partner" was very seriously and subtly creepy. As another reviewer said, it's pretty much straight fiction, though there is a whiff of fantasy toward the end.I loved the story about the cranky dragon who'd gotten stuck in our world which he hated- the children don't even taste good here! It was very well-balanced between straight and funny. (I don't think it's a spoiler to say that no kids got eaten!)But- those are only 2 of them, though the ones that have- for now- made the biggest impressions on me. I'm sure some of the others will start haunting me soon; that's what usually happens to me when I read Beagle's work.Very recommended!

This collection of short stories never fails to surprise. Some are exactly what you would expect from the author of "The Last Unicorn", while others set in more modern times are much darker, some quite unsettling. I had to put it down a couple of times to absorb and deal with what I'd read. A shining example of why he's been fast becoming one of my very favorite authors.

I admire Beagle's writing. In particular, regarding this book, I find his story about the misplaced and annoyed dragon wonderful. Why? First, of course, it's a fine and finely-written story. But even as I love the story and the quality of the writing, I love his point at the end. What it means to tell stories. The importance of telling, of being able to tell well, is at the heart of Beagle's work, and I value his valuing us and all storytellers. Thank you, Mr. Beagle.

Okay, Mr. Beagle, I have to be one of your oldest and most faithful readers. I have combed the used bookstore shelves in search of your out-of-prints; I have seized upon any idiot collection if it had you listed among the writers; I have forgiven you for Tamsin, not to mention repeated returns to the land of the Innkeeper's Song and inhabitants thereof, even though I continue to long for a return of Farrell, Schmendrick and the like. But Sleight of Hand is not magic, it is not even good sleight of hand.patch

I had started reading this book as a library book but after reading the first two stories I knew that this was a book I should own. I loved every story which is unusual for a compilation of short stories

I've been a fan of Peter Beagle's since I read The Last Unicorn, many years ago. This is a fresh collection of stories that will move and entertain you. Beagle writes luminous sentences and understands the joys and terrors of being human.

I've only read the first four stories because I do not find them that interesting. I was hoping for more!

I love Peter Beagle. I have given away lots of copies and recommended to others to buy "A Fine and Private Place".