Off on a Dream and Other Magical Realities
By Bruce Taylor
()
About this ebook
For over forty years, Bruce Taylor has been writing stories that defy categorization. Since Bruce had a job working on an in-patient, locked psychiatric floor, he did not have to be concerned about writing to make a living. Indeed how he _made_ his living gave him a wealth of fascinating psychological theory and concepts that literally fed his creativity. Writing for the sheer joy and exuberance of creative expression, his work explored, examined, exhumed the proverbial "human condition" in a broad array of styles until finally realizing what he was doing was not only writing in a style later known as Magic Realism but blending it with Science Fiction and discovering how well the two modes of expression complemented each other. These stories, coming from a particular creative time also reflect the themes of the nature of love, how we become the person we were meant to be, and always the journey into the midnight--of the soul.
"Remarkable clarity and insight."
--Brian Herbert, co-author, the _Dune_ series.
"A very gifted, short fiction writer."
--Jeff VanderMeer, author, _The Southern Reach Trilogy_
"As rich and poetic as Bradbury at his finest."
--William F. Nolan, author, _Logan's Run_
"The Transformational figure for science fiction."
--Elton Elliott, former editor of _Science Fiction Review_
Bruce Taylor
Bruce Taylor, known as Mr. Magic Realism, was born in 1947 in Seattle, Washington, where he currently lives. He was a student at the Clarion West Science Fiction/Fantasy writing program at the University of Washington, where he studied under such writers as Avram Davidson, Robert Silverberg, Ursula LeGuin, and Frank Herbert. Bruce has been involved in the advancement of the genre of magic realism, founding the Magic Realism Writers International Network, and collaborating with Tamara Sellman on MARGIN (http://www.magical-realism.com). Recently, he co-edited, with Elton Elliott, former editor of Science Fiction Review, an anthology titled, Like Water for Quarks, which examines the blending of magic realism with science fiction, with work by Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. LeGuin, Brian Herbert, Connie Willis, Greg Bear, William F. Nolan, among others. Elton Elliott has said that "(Bruce) is the transformational figure for science fiction." His works have been published in such places as The Twilight Zone, Talebones, On Spec, and New Dimensions, and his first collection, The Final Trick of Funnyman and Other Stories (available from Fairwood Press) recently received high praise from William F. Nolan, who said that some of his stores were "as rich and poetic as Bradbury at his best." In 2007, borrowing and giving credit to author Karel Capek (War with the Newts), Bruce published EDWARD: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity, a tale told largely through footnotes about a young man discovering his purpose in life through his dreams. With Brian Herbert, son of Frank Herbert of Dune fame, he wrote Stormworld, a short novel about global warming. Two other books (Mountains of the Night, Magic of Wild places) have been published and are part of a "spiritual trilogy." (The third book, Majesty of the World, is presently being written.) A sequel to Kafka's Uncle (Kafka's Uncle: the Unfortunate Sequel and Other Insults to the Morally Perfect) should be published soon, as well as the prequel (Kafka's Uncle: the Ghastly Prequel and Other Tales of Love and Pathos from the World's Most Powerful, Third-World Banana Republic). Industrial Carpet Drag, a weird and funny look at global warming and environmental decay, was released in 2104. Other published titles are, Mr. Magic Realism and Metamorphosis Blues. Of course, he has already taken on several other projects which he hopes will see publication: My False Memories With Myshkin Dostoevski-Kat, and The Tales of Alleymanderous as well as going through some 800 unpublished stories to assemble more collections; over 40 years, Bruce has written about 1000 short stories, 200 of which have been published. Bruce was writer in residence at Shakespeare & Company, Paris. If not writing, Bruce is either hiking or can be found in the loft of his vast condo, awestruck at the smashing view of Mt. Rainier with his partner, artist Roberta Gregory and their "mews," Roo-Prrt. More books from Bruce Taylor are available at: http://ReAnimus.com/store/?author=Bruce Taylor
Read more from Bruce Taylor
The End of Glory: War & Peace in HMS Hood 1916-1941 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsU-Boat Attack Logs: A Complete Record of Warship Sinkings from Original Sources 1939–1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kafka's Uncle and Other Strange Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battlecruiser HMS Hood: An Illustrated Biography, 1916–1941 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rockin' SkyHorse Blues Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProject Management Communication Tools Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Industrial Carpet Drag Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdward: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From the Depths of Hellas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMagic of Wild Places Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales from the Good Ship KafkaBury Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Infinite Tears of Pablo Azul: and Other Lamentations of the Human Condition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKafka's Uncle: The Ghastly Prequel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlleymanderous and Other Magical Realities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOf Sand Ships & Silent Silicate Seas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKafka's Uncle: The Unfortunate Sequel, and Other Insults to the Morally Perfect Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Off on a Dream and Other Magical Realities
Related ebooks
Of Sand Ships & Silent Silicate Seas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rockin' SkyHorse Blues Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom the Depths of Hellas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMFA in a Box Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sea Priestess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCouch Potato Author: In Search of the Elusive Inspiration: Couch Potato Author, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWriting in General and the Short Story in Particular Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Directions: A Little Bit of Everything Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrones of the Ravaging Wind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSon of Chaos, the First Two Novels: son of chaos series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Christian Writer's Possibly Useful Ruminations on a Life in Pages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWelcome to Hell: A Working Guide for the Beginning Writer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wizard's Stone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Perfect Stranger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIf I Should Wake Before I Die: The Complete Horror Short Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Show-Piece: “I mean the things that we have and that we think are so solid—they're like smoke” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWithout a Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStories: All-New Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Magic Touch: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5So . . . You Want to Write a Book: A Manual for the Beginning Writer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerilous Path: A Writer's Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Destroy the World: An Author's Guide to Writing Dystopia and Post-Apocalypse: Author Guides, #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pulp and Mystery Shelf: My Introduction to Genre and Mystery Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRemembrance: Remembrance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Verum Et Inventa Magazine Issue 08 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Darkling Halls of Ivy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write an Intelligent Murder Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGlimpses of Life: On the Fringe of Reality, Looking Out Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: [Complete & Illustrated] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Talisman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of the Vampire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wizard's First Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dandelion Wine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Off on a Dream and Other Magical Realities
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Off on a Dream and Other Magical Realities - Bruce Taylor
OFF ON A DREAM AND OTHER MAGICAL REALITIES
by
BRUCE TAYLOR
Produced by ReAnimus Press
Other books by Bruce Taylor:
The Infinite Tears of Pablo Azul
Kafka's Uncle and Other Strange Tales
Kafka's Uncle: The Unfortunate Sequel
Kafka's Uncle: The Ghastly Prequel
Tales from the Good Ship Kafkabury
Edward: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity
Alleymanderous and Other Magical Realities
Magic of Wild Places
Mountains of the Night
© 2018 by Bruce Taylor. All rights reserved.
https://ReAnimus.com/store?author=brucetaylor
Cover Art by Mark Ferrari; final graphic design and rendition, Richard Swift
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
~~~
To three amazing friends and artists: Carl Sloan, whose fabulous photo-magic realism images have graced many a cover of my books (the last one being Tales from the Good Ship KafkaBury) and whose friendship has spanned so many years—thank you!
To Richard Swift, who has done the graphic designs for some of my books and whose art has also graced them as well (the last one being The Infinite Tears of Pablo Azul and Other Lamentations of the Human Condition—such a wonderful cover!). But more—a fine fellow, and very good friend indeed. I am fortunate as I am grateful. Thank you!
And last, but not least, Mark Ferrari who many years ago suggested this art (on this book) might work as cover art for an earlier book. The book for which it was being considered, Edward: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity, well, that didn’t work out. But now I see why: it was meant for this book. And what a handsome fit it is! Thank you!
~~~
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Author's Preface
Lunacy Toons
Car Party
You Wonder
Final Exam
Patterns
Juan and the Darkness at Noon
Knowing Where You're At
Sweat
Auntie Avocado
Dead Daddy Dirge
Sklood Stop
Knowing You
In the Museum of Dead Memories
To The Children: The Victorious
Canvas
A Story Not About Chopin
The Tale of Mr. Ice
The Trail and Mr. M.
A History Written In Stone
Gotcha
The Mistake
Mars John
The Return of Annabelle Lee
Ember Blues
Not So Bad
Gifts
Pablo and the Stone
Friendly Voices
About the Author
Acknowledgements
In early versions of my work, including some stories here, much of the editing, computer work and formatting fell to the fine and capable hands of Pippin Sardo and Nancy Lou Polk. It was a lot of work but the results were well worth it and deeply appreciated.
Thank you to my partner Roberta Gregory, fine artist and writer, for going through these manuscripts and doing a superb job not only in catching goofs but fine line editing as well. Very fine work indeed and greatly appreciated. Thank you!
And of course, thanks to the past and present members of my wonderful critique group who have seen these stories over many a year and whose feedback have always made them better: Joel Davis, Brian Herbert, Phyllis Hiefield, Faith Szafranski (and in memoriam, Marie Landis Edwards, Cal Clawson) and to the present members, Linda Shepherd, Sarah Blum, Art Gomez, Jim Bartlett and Roberta Gregory.
Thanks to former agent and now fine friend, Ben Bova, for his representation and his unwavering support of my writing. I can’t even begin to tell you what that means to me! I am deeply honored and I thank you!
Many, many thanks to my editor/publisher Andrew Burt of ReAnimus Press who, with infinite patience at my chronic tribulations and angst with computers, must be the Buddha in disguise!
Author’s Preface
Many of these stories were written from the mid-1980’s through the late '90s. They represent a wide array of style and content, but most of them I consider good examples of the blending of magic realist writing techniques and perspectives with science fiction. Not all these stories are magic realism; some are just plain hard-edged science fiction (To The Children: The Victorious
) or fictional stories on the craft of writing, (for example, Sweat
)—these were included in this collection to show that not only was I writing in the magic realist style but I was experimenting with other styles as well. Much of my writing with the magic realism orientation did not see print in large circulation magazines simply because to some, such content wasn’t exactly entertaining
(the nasty male POV of Knowing
would not win over many readers who were reading solely for enjoyment). And some of it simply defied conventional publications although plus/minus 250 stories have made it into print, largely with publications that were specifically oriented to magic realism, for example, a fine little magazine published by C. Darren Butler, Magic Realism, published in the '90s, with work by myself, and Jeff VanderMeer among others. Other smaller circulation magazines that were more open to experimentation and taking risks published my work as well. So many of these stories from this time, over some twenty years, resulted in about 500 written and many, in retrospect, were primarily exploration of the imagination—not having to make a living by writing is a double-edged sword: at the same time I could go where my imagination led me, sometimes writing up to five stories a day and using concepts and ideas coming from working as a therapist/Stress Management Specialist on a locked, inpatient psychiatric unit in Seattle.
Such work gave me a wealth of concepts and information that was as profound as it was enlightening and felt at times like I was being paid to observe first-hand the proverbial human condition! Much of what I learned of psychological (as well as psychopathological) concepts became the basis of many stories set in a Kafkian universe (Kafka was actually one of the first writers writing in the style now known as magic realism). From looking at issues of abuse, to the nature of sociopathy and schizophrenia to psychosis and PTSD, some of my stories probably did indeed seem as if dusted by a bit of madness.
After working on the psychiatric floor for 25 years, I was able to take an early retirement at age 55, to just focus on full time writing. I had incredible information, material to draw on and to write about forever it seemed and I could do with it as I so pleased and the result were the stories that were written, many suffused with the insights of Carl Jung (as well as Freud, particularly the concept of Introjection)—but while interesting and fascinating to me—while many a genre editor respected what I wrote about, the stories were not exactly, as one editor delicately put it, entertaining.
That’s exactly right. I was writing work that I was writing because I had something to say.
And naively? Perhaps? Thought that science fiction/fantasy, given the nature of the genre would be open to the idea of Imagination Unlimited—well, up to a point. That point being that to make it,
work, if to appear in large circulation magazines, must be seen as being marketable, and making money for the magazine. Stories about characters being psychotic? A little nuts? Sociopathic characters? Issues of abuse?
Hard sells. Very hard sells.
So I had to make the decision to write basically work that I loved to read and wanted to write. That has not changed. The end result over four decades of writing, from 1972 to the present has been the writing of about 1000 short stories and all written because of the enthusiasm of writing what I wanted to write not because someone wanted me to write that story or because paying my electric bill depended on marketing a story literally crafted for a particular audience.
I just could not do that and still—cannot.
So how does magic realism really fit with all of this?
Perhaps it was because of this stance that magic realism caught my attention, especially after reading Eye of the Heart edited by Barbara Howes, in the early 1980s. After reading the book, which I later understood was considered magic realism and a well-respected vanguard of that South American literary movement, it gave me a perspective on the works of Bradbury, Serling and Kafka, (later I realized just how many works of said authors had that magical realist perspective) but it turned out to be the perfect mode of expression for blending my work experience and science fiction. And after reading a lot more magic realism, I realized not only that’s exactly what I was doing but had been doing all along. My work experience had simply put my work on steroids.
What I have been writing all these years is a strange confluence of a very fortunate work experience, my interest in science fiction and then discovering magic realism, the mode of expression that was an unconscious catalyst yet fuel for my love of writing and how it has presented itself.
So what is it about magic realism that worked for me? In so much of my work and other magic realist works, the writing is done as if writing about one’s dreams where the context may feel as if reality-based but is suffused by the weird, the strange but, as in a dream, it’s not seen that way to the dreamer. It’s seen as normal
consensual reality. It’s only after one awakens, that the dream is seen as strange. And as I’ve written about this and thought about this, it has finally come to me that I think that magic realism may be code
(or the literature
) of the dream state as the dream state would then be code for the true description of the nature of consensual reality. Just because the sky is blue, and plants pop up out of the ground, and we have these creatures in our lives, cats, dogs, parakeets, doesn’t mean it isn’t strange—it is. Matter of fact, it’s truly bizarre but we don’t see it that way because we’ve all come to agree that the bizarre is normal.
Of course it isn’t. What reality is—is incomprehensible and the dream state is an absolute necessary function of integrating this weirdness of existence into our normal
day-to-day lives with absolutely no answers about how or why the Universe and Earth and life came to be except that maybe somehow life just enjoys replicating itself in all these forms whose sole purpose apparently is to have a good time in whatever form life finds or defines itself—well, maybe magic realism is a great artistic form in which to remind us all how wonderfully bizarre and truly weird reality
really is.
And maybe that’s where all those stories finally came and come from: life is incomprehensible but let’s not let that get in the way of loving it, loving our fellow creatures who inhabit this world with us, loving this planet from whence we came and looking up to the stars and letting ourselves be bedazzled again and again and yet again by—wonder!
Lunacy Toons
Last time you saw Daffy Duck was in a cartoon in 19—. It was a long cartoon starring the famous duck and his errant rantings about his life done in the great voice of Mel Blanc and directed by Chuck Jones. And there is one scene where Daffy was playing with the audience as if talking directly to them, trying to engage them and you think he is saying something like, "Get it right, folks, just get it right. Being a duck is hard work! and then he passes to the extreme right of the frame. It is then that you notice on the extreme far left—a white duck. It slips right in and you think, intended to back out—when it stops and looks directly at you. You are the only one in the theatre and had it not been so, you would have never noticed anything peculiar at all. But the white duck sees you. The rest of the ‘toon becomes static and the white duck steps out of the cartoon, walks quickly, almost furtively across the stage and comes to sit by you. He considers you in the darkness and he looks just like his famous counterpart except, he is white.
Bra-ther, he says,
braaa-ther. You don’t know what it’s like having a brother as famous as Daffy."
You don’t quite know what to say so you say, Not as ducky as you’d like?
He looks at you. Oh, mister,
he says, oh, misss-ter. You don’t know the half of it. Or the third of it. Or even the sixteenth of it. You just don’t know.
He then reaches out a delicate, four fingered hand. Diffy. The name is Diffy Duck.
Pleased to meet you,
you say, somewhat hesitant, not sure if anyone who sees you talking to cartoon ducks would think you a bit odd.
You look back up to the screen where Daffy stands frozen, looking out at the audience, finger pointing as if making an accusation, asserting his Daffy Duckiness to the unseen object of his mallard rage.
It’s terrible,
says Diffy, "just terrrr-iible. He emphasizes greatly the
terr" in terrible.
Somehow lamely you say, I didn’t know Daffy had a brother.
Well,
snorts Diffy, sounding an awful lot like Daffy, it’s true. It’s true. Bra-ther, it’s true.
I take it you two aren’t on good relations,
you say.
Not at all,
says Diffy. "Not at all. He treats me like a kid brother. ‘Diffy do this. Diffy do that. Call my agent Diffy. Take my De Lux Tux duck suit out to be dry cleaned. Fix dinner’. Why is