The Weight of Words
Couldn't load pickup availability
About this book
The consummate artistry of Dave McKean has permeated popular culture for more than thirty years. His images at once bizarre beautiful and instantly recognizable have graced an impressive array of books CDs graphic novels and films. In The Weight of Words ten of our finest contemporary storytellers among them the artist himself have created a series of varied compelling narratives each inspired by one of McKeans extraordinary paintings. The result is a unique collaborative effort in which words and pictures enhance and illuminate each other on page after page. The volume opens with Alastair Reynoldss Belladonna Nights set in the world of his novel House of Suns the ultimately poignant portrait of a thousand nights-long reunion held in the far reaches of space. Elsewhere in this generous book we find a series of lovingly crafted tales featuring among other elements doppelgangers lost souls and lucid dreamers. Highlights include Joe R. Lansdales Robo Rapid a near future cautionary tale about Man vs. Machine; M. John Harrisons Yummie in which a middle-aged man experiences the hallucinatory aftermath of a heart attack; Joe Hills All I Care About Is You the account of a pure if temporary friendship; Catherynne M. Valentes extraordinary No One Dies in Nowhere a tale of death and detection in the afterlife; Maria Dahvana Headleys The Orange Tree the story of an 11th century golem that is also a profound study of loneliness; and Monkey and the Lady an ironic creation myth by the artists longtime friend and creative associate Neil Gaiman. Together with Train of Death an abbreviated account of the literal death of literature this is one of two new stories by the always remarkable Gaiman. The Weight of Words is the rare anthology that really does offer something for everyone. Its complementary merger of words and images adds up to something special something more than the sum of its impressive parts. It is both a major accomplishment in itself and a long overdue tribute to an importantand necessaryartist. The Weight of Words contains more than two dozen illustrations by Dave McKean and is printed in two colors throughout.
