The Book with Twelve Tales

Description

"The Book with Twelve Tales" is a gallimaufry of stories: comic, frightening, exotic and magical. Here, in John Gallas' richly imagined narrative worlds, are the American gothic of Morten Mortenssen, the pig who eats his owners; the sexual folktale of a comedy of Mongolian marriage; a fable of the power of the imagination as a poet is interrogated by a president. Then there is the terrifying Arctic potentate Zigismund Walrus in his nightmare palace of ice, and the true adventure of the author and Turkish rabies. Gallas' exuberant language draws the reader into twists of plot and dialogue, through tales of evil and violence, love and generosity that reaffirm the power of humour and the value of shared wisdoms.

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1950, John Gallas came to England in 1971. He is currently a teacher in the Leicestershire Student Support Service. His previous Carcanet books include Practical Anarchy (1989) and Flying Carpets Over Filbert Street (1993).

"Gallas combines technical skill with a flair for energetic, authentic dialogue and characterization to tell tales showing the capacity in us all for humor, hope and love; despair, treachery and corruption." David Hamer, " The North""