'The Woman Who Married a Cloud: The Collected Short Stories' by Jonathan Carroll is a chunky collection of thirty-eight stories spanning 600 pages. The stories include elements of fantasy, horror, surrealism, and social commentary. Carroll's writing style is described as fascinating, masterful, and distinctive, with a delicate blending of different worlds. The stories touch on themes of love, loss, fantasy, and the complexities of human emotions, often surprising the reader with unexpected twists and turns.

Characters:

The characters are flawed yet relatable, navigating life's challenges and often experiencing transformative moments amidst a blend of the mundane and fantastical.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is descriptive and engaging, capturing the mundane experiences of life with an ironic and profound undertone, blending realism with elements of fantasy.

Plot/Storyline:

The collection features a variety of themes such as love, loss, and transformation, with a focus on everyday life that transforms into surreal events through subtle reality shifts.

Setting:

The settings range from mundane everyday life to bizarre world constructs, where the ordinary is transformed through surreal narratives.

Pacing:

The pacing of the collection varies, with some quick and surprising stories while others are intricately woven, keeping readers engaged through a balance of immediacy and depth.

Notes:

Jonathan Carroll is known for his unique way of describing everyday life, making mundane experiences feel profound and relatable.

Many of Carroll's stories have a 'before' section, setting up the normal before introducing a subtle twist that changes everything.

The collection 'The Woman Who Married a Cloud' includes stories that address themes of loss and the search for love.

Carroll often blends fantastical elements with realistic settings, creating a unique narrative style that defies genre classification.

Characters in Carroll's stories frequently experience unexpected changes and philosophical revelations.

The collection showcases a mix of humor, sadness, and social commentary that resonates with readers.

The stories explore common human themes like grief, love, and personal growth in imaginative ways.

Readers find Carroll's work both entertaining and reflective, evolving from simple plots to deep explorations of life.

The collection includes two longer novellas, which offer a deeper introduction to Carroll's characteristic narrative style.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include themes of loss, grief, and existential crises, which may be distressing for some readers.

Has Romance?

Romantic themes appear moderately throughout the stories, exploring relationships, longing, and often the complexities within love.

From The Publisher:

Nominated for a 2012 Bram Stoker Award and a 2013 British Fantasy Award: Thirty-eight extraordinary stories from award-winning author Jonathan Carroll

For more than thirty years, Jonathan Carroll's writing has defied genre conventions. Known for his novels-including The Land of Laughs , Bones of the Moon , Sleeping in Flame , and many other compelling and often surreal stories-Carroll has also created an eloquent body of short fiction. The Woman Who Married a Cloud brings his stories together for the first time. In the title story, a matchmaking effort goes awry and leads one woman to a harrowing moment of self-discovery. In "The Heidelberg Cylinder," Hell becomes so overcrowded that Satan sends some of his lost souls back to Earth. And in "Alone Alarm," a man is kidnapped by multiple versions of himself. By turns haunting, melancholic, and enchanting, Carroll's richly layered stories illuminate universal experiences, passions, and griefs. Described by NPR's Alan Cheuse as "so richly imaginative, so intellectually daring," The Woman Who Married a Cloud is essential reading for Carroll fans and short-story lovers alike. This ebook contains an exclusive illustrated biography of the author including rare images from his personal collection.

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The Woman Who Married a Cloud: The Collected Short Stories

Jonathan Carroll