A great collection of works by an exceptional author. The Cat's Pajamas is the name of the final piece, but nearly all of the stories in this collection feature cats both integral and peripheral. Beyond that, the major themes throughout these stories - as well as Morrow's body of work - involve faith of both the religious and political variety, apocalyptic visions of humanity, and, of course, mortality.

Personal favorites from this collection include two works of Creative Non-Fiction (or revisionist fiction, if you will), Martyrs of the Upshot Knothole, and Fucking Justice. The most disturbing of the bunch is probably Auspicious Eggs (dystopian fertility rites), the funniest, Isabella of Castille Answers Her Mail. ( )

You can file his stuff under "science fiction" or "fantasy" or "speculative fiction" or even "humor," but, regardless of the genre you put him in, James Morrow can really write. The stories in "The Cat's Pajamas" all meditate on a central question, but Morrow's prose is almost unfailingly deft, light, and can be, by turns, funny and touching. While a lot of sci-fi writers' stories resemble arguments or mere plot diagrams, Morrow's seem more like good, clever jokes, or brilliantly constructed playthings. There's a live-wire intelligence on display here, but Morrow also know that most readers read for pleasure and proceeded accordingly.

There's a bit of modern fairytale ("The Eye that Never Blinks") here, little plays that inject some life into dusty science fiction tropes, and a lovely, poignant post-September 11th story, "Apilogue." It's all enjoyable, most of it is genuinely funny, and much of it is thought-provoking. That said, much of this volume seems like a good writer relaxing: these are skillfully done minor works. I've already read "City of Truth" and liked it, but something about the fact that he could do so much in so few pages kind of sold me on this author. Time to hunt up his other stuff. ( )

http://www.somefantastic.us/Issue_Archive/Issue_No_2.html

(Downloads the entire Winter, 2005 Issue of Some Fantastic, the 'zine in which the review appears.) ( )