I've now read Gene's latest book, co-authored with
Neil Gaiman: A WALKING TOUR OF THE SHAMBLES. It's an
illustrated chapbook, published soon by the small
press American Fantasy. It's best compared with
BIBLIOMEN: light, joky, a great writer on holiday,
really. The book describes, in quasi-tourist-guide
fashion, an apocryphal district of Chicago filled with
sinister attractions: haunted houses, a lake hosting
Captain Hook's crocodile, a museum of living clocks,
etc. There are even some gross recipes from a ghoulish
restaurant. Under "Other Books by Gene Wolfe" at the
front, there is mention of such gems as HANDSAW:
ESCAPE FROM WOODEN CAGES. Highly enjoyable tour, or at
least I thought so.
--Nick Gevers.