THE SQUARE MOON: Supernatural Tales

by Ghada Samman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1998

An attractive (1994) collection of eerie tales by a veteran Lebanese writer (new to English translation) who adroitly mixes traditional indigenous and folk materials with the shocks administered by her characters' entries into Western settings (most often Paris), ""material things, and the modern age."" All ten stories are exquisitely crafted. The best are ""The Metallic Crocodile,"" about a displaced fortune-teller who witnesses a murder apparently caused by a spell-casting ""real magician""; ""Thirty Years of Bees,"" about a repressed housewife whose anger takes pestiferous physical form; and ""The Brain's Closed Castle,"" a wonderful story of a murdered adulterer's ghostly revenge on his coldhearted lover and her fatuous husband. A brilliant collection.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1998

ISBN: 1557285357

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Univ. of Arkansas

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1998

Categories: FICTION