"This trenchant feminist fantasy-satire mixes elements of "Animal Farm, Rhinoceros," and "The Handmaid's Tale" . . . Imagination and absurdist humor mark ["Carmen Dog"] throughout, and Emshwiller is engaging even when most savage about male-female relationships."--"Booklist."
The Secret City is a proud enclave carved in stone. Hidden high in a mountain range, it is a worn citadel protecting a lost culture. It harbors a handful of aliens stranded on Earth, waiting for rescue and running out of time. Over years of increasing poverty, an exodus to the human world has become their only chance for survival. The aliens are gradually assimilating not as a discrete culture but as a source of cheap labor. But the sudden arrival of ill-prepared rescuers will touch off divided loyalties, violent displacement, and star-crossed love. As unlikely human allies are pitted against xenophobic aliens, the stage is set for a final standoff at the Secret City.
I Live With You is a sophisticated collection of fierce, compassionate fiction marked by an absurdist sense of humor. A contemporary of Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, and Fay Weldon, Carol Emshwiller has been lauded for her originality and lyricism. These striking short stories skillfully explore themes of war, seduction, and censorship: An Eden emerges from the wreckage of burning books in "The Library," "Boys" sets a weary general and his sons against a village of determined mothers, and "I Live With You (and You Don't Know It)" brings a necessary chaos from an uninvited guest.
Tells the story of Abel, an impish, mute child; of Mary Catherine, whose eccentricities trigger new spirit in him; and of Henny, a World War 1 veteran. These and other characters come to life amid Emshwiller's rich country landscape. With Leaping Man Hill Carol Emshwiller continues to breathe life into the American Western, turning the genre on its head, filling it with surprises, and giving it unparalleled authenticity, power, and poignancy.