{"product_id":"the-merry-spinster-9781472154118","title":"The Merry Spinster","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Dark and dreadful and persistently clever. Ortberg bloodily turns familiar tales inside out.'' Rainbow Rowell\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''A collection of stories delectable, formidable, and nimble. As a fantasist and short story writer, Ortberg is without peer.'' Kelly Link\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Ortberg has a voracious appetite for poison apples, and a genius for finding the places in fairyland where all the bodies are buried. \u003ci\u003eThe Merry Spinster\u003c\/i\u003e will ruin your most-loved fables, in the best possible way.'' Charlie Jane Anders\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Ortberg has the sloe gin wit of Dorothy Parker and the soul of a Classics nerd. It''s like both of them sat next to each other in \u003ci\u003eThe Merry Spinster\u003c\/i\u003e and gossiped away. The result is an absolute delight.'' John Scalzi\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Ortberg has created a Frankenstein''s monster of familiar narratives . . . [that swings] between Terry Pratchett''s satirical jocularity and Angela Carter''s sinister, shrewd storytelling, and the result is gorgeous\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003cb\u003edelightfully disturbing\u003c\/b\u003e collection . . . delivers on \u003cb\u003echills, laughs, and much more\u003c\/b\u003e. There is plenty of humor to be had here, with Ortberg's signature\u003cb\u003e biting wit and nerdy whimsy\u003c\/b\u003e out in full force . . . Ortberg's point of view is thoughtful, insightful, and unpretentious. A \u003cb\u003ewholly satisfying \u003c\/b\u003eblend of silliness, feminist critique, and deft prose makes this a collection of bedtime stories that will keep you up at night \u003cb\u003efor all the right reasons\u003c\/b\u003e. * Kirkus, starred review *\u003cbr\u003eThe book brings the shock of the new and the shock of recognition into play at the same time; it's \u003cb\u003ea tour de force of skill, daring, and hard-earned bravura\u003c\/b\u003e. * Publisher's Weekly, starred review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDark and dreadful and persistently clever\u003c\/b\u003e. Ortberg bloodily turns familiar tales inside out. * Rainbow Rowell, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Carry On *\u003cbr\u003eA collection of stories \u003cb\u003edelectable, formidable, and nimble\u003c\/b\u003e. As a fantasist and short story writer, Mallory Ortberg is \u003cb\u003ewithout peer\u003c\/b\u003e. * Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFeminist fairy tales? Just what the doctor ordered.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eTexts From Jane Eyre\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDear \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ePrudence \u003c\/i\u003eagony aunt Mallory Ortberg conjures up the kinds of stories that will hopefully scary the bogeymen - with the emphasis on \"men\" - away. * Elle UK, Books We're Most Excited to Read in 2018 *\u003cbr\u003eDear Reader: It would, truthfully, be simplest to call the stories in THE MERRY SPINSTER 'retellings,' but that word does not adequately capture their \u003cb\u003edark alchemy\u003c\/b\u003e. Mallory Ortberg has created a Frankenstein's monster of familiar narratives. . .[that swings] between Terry Pratchett's satirical jocularity and Angela Carter's sinister, shrewd storytelling, and the result is \u003cb\u003egorgeous, unsettling, splenic, cruel, and wickedly smart. I've never read anything quite like them\u003c\/b\u003e, and I bet, Dear Reader, that you haven't either. * Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties: Stories *\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMallory Ortberg has a voracious appetite for poison apples, and a genius for finding the places in fairyland where all the bodies are buried. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Merry Spinster \u003c\/i\u003ewill ruin your most-loved fables, in the best possible way.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e * Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky *\u003cbr\u003eThe secret to THE MERRY SPINSTER, I think, is that she never wanted to be your wicked stepmother -- she was too busy. There are \u003cb\u003euncanny slivers of delight and recognition mixed here with the wit we all love Ortberg for, but here that wit is wielded with new force.\u003c\/b\u003e If fairy tales are ways to describe the rules we don't dare put down on paper, in her hands they become ways to challenge those, or even to write new rules. I don't know if these stories are for bedtimes, \u003cb\u003ebut they are for us.\u003c\/b\u003e * Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eMallory Ortberg has the sloe gin wit of Dorothy Parker and the soul of a Classics nerd. It's like both of them sat next to each other in THE MERRY SPINSTER and gossiped away. \u003cb\u003eThe result is an absolute delight.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e * John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Lock In and Redshirts *","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48739404317015,"sku":"9781472154118","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781472154118.jpg?v=1720052147","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-merry-spinster-9781472154118","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}