A COLLECTION… OF COLLECTIONS What leads one person to collect stamps and another coins, one fine art and another butterflies? Who can say? But one thing is certain: those who’ve got the collecting bug care passionately-sometimes violently-about the objects of their obsession. No one covets like a collector; and as you will find in the pages of this brand new anthology from MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block, a truly dedicated collector will ignore the other nine commandments, too, in his quest for his personal Holy Grail. From Joyce Carol Oates’ tale of the ultimate Marilyn Monroe collectible to Dennis Lehane’s bookseller with a penchant for other people’s tragic correspondence, from Lee Goldberg’s Hollywood hustler with a collection of unaired TV shows to Joe R. Lansdale’s stylish foray into noir, culminating in Lawrence Block’s own classic story of a killer with a unique approach to choosing his victims, Collectibles illustrates the range of the collecting impulse and the lengths people will go to in their hunger to possess the perfect piece.
My thoughts:
As I read through the anthology, I rated each story and then the book as a whole. I gave the majority of the stories a 5/5 star rating. Although most of them are mysteries or thrillers, a few lean toward horror or science fiction, and a couple toward general fiction.
It seems there's always one or more that doesn't sit as well with you as the others. In this anthology, there was really only one I didn't care for as much as the others, "Miss Golden Dreams 1949" by Joyce Carol Oates. While I didn't really enjoy the story or its tone, I can totally see its value to the collection.
You would think it would be easier to talk about favorites, but it's a little harder because I enjoyed so many of them. I liked the twist in Lee Goldberg's "Lost Shows." I also liked the twists in "A Bostonian (in Cambridge)" by Dennis Lehane and " Collecting Ackermans" by Lawrence Block. And I thought it was interesting that the two stories involving musical instruments had elements of the paranormal in therm.
The order of the stories is well done. The collection starts and ends strong and has a good rhythm to it. Interspersed with the stories are excerpts from Otto Penzler's Mysterious Obsession about collecting books and his efforts in obtaining certain titles. I found the excerpts to be complimentary to the stories.
Overall, I gave the collection 5/5 stars. Lawrence Block did an excellent job as editor. I would recommend this book to you if you enjoy anthologies or maybe even collecting something.
Collectibles was published May 31st, 2021 by Subterranean Press.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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