BOOK REVIEW: The Apes of Wrath, edited by Rick Klaw

By Derek | Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 at 2:00 pm

REVIEW SUMMARY: An eclectic, enjoyable mix of fiction and nonfiction suffering only from one or two significant absences.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: 17 remarkable stories and four insightful essays all dealing with our simian cousins.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: The strength of the fiction included in the anthology, from groundbreaking genre classics such as Leigh Kennedy’s “Her Furry Face” and Pat Murphy’s “Rachel in Love” to lesser-known tales such as Gustav Flaubert’s “Quidquid Volueris”; interesting essays from Jess Nevins and Scott Cupp on apes in literature and comics, respectively.
CONS: Odd if understandable exclusions; one or two obvious inclusions; the editor’s own contribution on apes in cinema a bit too brief.

If one wanted to get technical, any story featuring a human being is an ape story; zoologist Desmond Morris even identified us as such in his 1967 book The Naked Ape. So our fascination with gorillas, chimps, and orangutans, among others, in ethology and in popular culture, should come as no surprise; after all, our nearest genetic cousins share so many of our features that we cannot help but feel kinship and awe. We gaze into these alien faces and of course see ourselves.
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Interview with “The Apes of Wrath” Editor Rick Klaw

By Alvaro Zinos-Amaro | Monday, February 11th, 2013 at 10:00 am

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Prior to The Apes of Wrath, award-wining editor Richard “Rick” Klaw co-founded the pioneering Mojo Press, one of the first publishers to produce both graphic novels and prose books. Since leaving Mojo, he became the initial fiction editor for RevolutionSF, where he still serves as an editor-at-large, and emerged as “the smartest mouth on the Internet” (Michael Moorcock) with his popular columns on pop culture for SF Site and his acclaimed blog The Geek Curmudgeon. Over the past decade, Klaw has written about fictional simians for a variety of publications including Moving Pictures Magazine, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, King Kong Is Back!, and Kong Is King. His essays and observations were collected in Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century (Monkeybrain), adorned with a magnificent gumshoe gorilla cover. Klaw lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, a large cat, an even bigger dog, and enormous collection of books. His shrine of assorted ape knickknacks is the stuff of legend.

Alvaro Zinos-Amaro: In the introduction to “The Apes of Wrath” you acknowledge the role that SF Signal’s John DeNardo played in the genesis of this project, when he invited you to contribute to a Mind Meld on the perfect SF anthology. I think it’s important to establish the following facts upfront: Have you had John over for bagels? Has he had you over?

Rick Klaw: Actually John and I have only met face-to-face maybe 2-3 times and always at Armadillocon. I like John and would gladly break bread with him.

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TOC: ‘Rayguns Over Texas’ Edited by Rick Klaw

By John DeNardo | Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 at 12:20 am

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Editor Rick Klaw has posted the table of contents for his/ upcoming anthology Rayguns Over Texas, an anthology of original science fiction by TX authors, scheduled for release at LoneStarCon 3 (aka the 2013 Science Fiction Worldcon in San Antonio, TX):
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TOC: ‘The Apes of Wrath’ Edited by Rick Klaw

By John DeNardo | Thursday, April 12th, 2012 at 12:18 am

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Tachyon has posted the table of contents of The Apes of Wrath edited by Rick Klaw, described thusly:

In Rue Morgue, the jungles of Tarzan, the fables of Aesop, and outer space, the apes in these fantastic tales boldly go where humans dare not. With a foreword from the director of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, this provocative anthology delves into our cultural fascination with – and dread of – our simian cousins. These classic stories explore the lighter and darker sides of apes, mirroring our own deepest desires and anxieties. “Evil Robot Monkey” introduces a disgruntled chimp implanted with a chip that makes him cleverer than both his cohort and humans alike. In “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” a murder mystery unravels with the discovery of a hair that does not appear quite human. Merging steampunk with slapstick, “The Ape-Box Affair” has a not-so-ordinary orangutan landing on Earth in a spherical flying ship–where he is promptly mistaken for an alien. King Kong sets a terrible example with booze and Barbie dolls in “Godzilla’s 12-Step Program.” If you’ve ever wondered what makes humans different from apes, soon you’ll be asking yourself, is it less than we think?

And here’s the table of contents:
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MIND MELD: Table of Contents for the Perfect Short Fiction Anthology (Part 1)

By John DeNardo | Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 at 12:29 am

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[Do you have an idea for a future Mind Meld? Let us know!]

Very rarely does a short fiction anthology score a home run with every single story it contains. Tastes differ from reader to reader. We asked this week’s participants to play the role of Editor:

Q: If you could publish a short fiction anthology containing up to 25 previously-published sf/f/h stories, which stories would it include and why?

Here’s what they said:

Nancy Kress

Nancy Kress is the author of 26 books of SF, fantasy, and writing advice. Her most recent novel is Steal Across the Sky (Tor, 2009), an SF novel about a crime committed by aliens against humanity 10,000 years ago – for which they would now like to atone. Her fiction has won multiple Nebula and Hugo awards, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

I teach SF often and have never been able to find the exact anthology I want to teach! This would be it. I know there are many wonderful stories I left out either because I had no room (you limited me to 25) or haven’t read them. There are also great writers whose novels I prefer to their short fiction. But this anthology would be a joy to teach.