The Black Gondolier: And Other Stories

I looked this up, because the title story was referenced in another book I was reading ([b:In the Dust of This Planet|11944741|In the Dust of This Planet (Horror of Philosophy, #1)|Eugene Thacker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348583638s/11944741.jpg|16906202]) and it seemed a good, or better, way into a future read of [b:Cyclonopedia: Complicity with Anonymous Materials|4617457|Cyclonopedia Complicity with Anonymous Materials|Reza Negarestani|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389753141s/4617457.jpg|4667368] - a book I have already tried to penetrate without succeeding. Actually, reading this Leiber collection, as well as Thacker's book and Thomas Ligotti's [b:The Conspiracy Against the Human Race|8524528|The Conspiracy Against the Human Race|Thomas Ligotti|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400962805s/8524528.jpg|2696709] have all in a way been instruments to shape/reshape my perceptive and cognititive skills to better correspond with Negarestani's writing. I also intend to read [b:The Spectacle of the Void|23656630|The Spectacle of the Void|David Peak|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417568543s/23656630.jpg|43263689] before embarking on my second attempt to read Negarestani's book.

(Wow! How's that for an unparenthesized paranthesis?)

Leiber is claimed by the editors of this collection to be a legend in science fiction, as well as fantasy (and horror). This fact is supported by him recieving lots of awards, but at the same time it's a bit surprising to me, being an avid (more or less, at least) reader of said genres and just now being made aware of this "legend".

Maybe this is why I, even though I enjoyed a lot of the stories, don't see much that elevates him from the position of, say, at his best a poor man's Lovecraft and (Philip K) Dick with stories that have lots of potential but more often than not fail to take advantage of that.

Maybe one more proofread would have helped things also. Not with the stories themselves, I mean, but with the reception. The further in the book you get, there are more and more mistakes visible in the texts. Not spelling errors as much as mis-spellings where one word has been mistakenly replace by another. Words like "trust" and "thrust", or "more" and "moor". Sloppy.

Overall, though, I am pleased to see (and read) works that follow in the steps of true legends like the aforementioned Lovecraft and Dick, even though they do not reach those soaring heights. It is done with love and inspiration, rather than plagiarism and laziness.

For that alone, he does deserve a place in my bookshelf. (Next to Harper Lee and Alan Lightman.)