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Ganglion and Other Stories
Wayne Wightman
“Ganglion is like an all-star classic issue of Galaxy in book form…. Modern angsts and ironies are embodied in SF parables laced with humor….”
—Asimov’s Science Fiction
ISBN: ISBN -13: 978-1-892391-00-1 ISBN -10: 1892391007
Published: 1995
Available Format(s): Hardcover (sold out) , Limited Hardcover, Special Edition (sold out)
“‘Ganglion’ is like an all-star classic issue of Galaxy in book form. Not that there’s anything old-fashioned about Wightman’s stories. It’s simply that he writes in the grand tradition of Dick, Sheckley, Tenn, and mid-period Silverberg. Modern angsts and ironies are embodied in SF parables laced with that brand of humor best characterized by ‘the bubble of blood at the end of the laugh.’ And when an understated change of pace is needed, Wightman is eminently capable of delivering a delicate Sturgeon-esque love story, such as “The Face at the End of the Mind,” or a spooky Leiber-esque “Life on Earth.” One motif that spans the stories is a kind of “body anxiety” verging on disgust, a potent archetypal source mostly for horror fiction. Wightman’s characters have a tendency to mutate, to lose body parts, and contain aliens within. But it’s all in a day’s work for the Missouri-born Wightman, who has a stand-in character say, ‘I grew up in Missouri, see, so weirdness doesn’t affect me like it does most normal people.’”
—Asimov’s Science Fiction
“Full of manic energy, rich in colors and odors and emotions.”
—Lewis Shiner
“More evidence that the small press is alive and well. This collection of Wayne Wightman’s excellent, very warped short stories is drawn mostly from Fantasy & Science Fiction and includes such top notch tales as the title story, ‘Pardon My Extremities,’ and ‘The Tensor of Desire.’ Wightman’s characters are frequently bizarre, although in a likable sort of way, his situations always interesting, and the prose itself is of excellent quality.”
—Science Fiction Chronicle
“Wayne Wightman is agreeable company, both in person and via the printed page. As to the former, I’m afraid you will have to wait the chance to make his acquaintance like everybody else. As to the latter, however, now’s your chance: Read Ganglion & Other Stories, and enjoy.”
—John Brunner, author of Stand on Zanzibar
“Unlike most genre writers, Wayne Wightman has more than one move. He writes top-quality SF and fantasy, humor, and horror, and he never forgets to tell a compelling tale.”
—Fantasy & Science Fiction
Wayne Wightman is the author of more than forty science-fiction and fantasy stories published in venues including Amazing Stories, Fantasy & Science Fiction, OMNI, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. He has taught grammar, fiction writing, and critical thinking classes since 1970.
Praise for Wayne Wightman
“…one of the names I’ve learned to look for…a romantic whose stories confess his belief that individuals can be larger than life, that their decisions can change the world around them.”
—Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game
“One of Wightman’s great strengths is his willingness to go to the edge. He pulls no punches, whether the story is serious and violent or manic, wacky, and funny. You can count on him to take you places other writers shy away from.”
—Richard Paul Russo
Ganglion
Pardon My Extremities
Life on Earth
King of the Neanderthals
Unnatural Strangers
The Skin Disguise
Somewhere Dreamers Wake
The Face at the End of the Mind
Being and Nothingness
The Tensor of Desire
Ganglion and Other Stories
Wayne Wightman
“Ganglion is like an all-star classic issue of Galaxy in book form…. Modern angsts and ironies are embodied in SF parables laced with humor….”
—Asimov’s Science Fiction
Ganglion and Other Stories
by Wayne Wightman
ISBN: ISBN -13: 978-1-892391-00-1 ISBN -10: 1892391007
Published: 1995
Available Format(s): Hardcover (sold out) , Limited Hardcover, Special Edition (sold out)
“‘Ganglion’ is like an all-star classic issue of Galaxy in book form. Not that there’s anything old-fashioned about Wightman’s stories. It’s simply that he writes in the grand tradition of Dick, Sheckley, Tenn, and mid-period Silverberg. Modern angsts and ironies are embodied in SF parables laced with that brand of humor best characterized by ‘the bubble of blood at the end of the laugh.’ And when an understated change of pace is needed, Wightman is eminently capable of delivering a delicate Sturgeon-esque love story, such as “The Face at the End of the Mind,” or a spooky Leiber-esque “Life on Earth.” One motif that spans the stories is a kind of “body anxiety” verging on disgust, a potent archetypal source mostly for horror fiction. Wightman’s characters have a tendency to mutate, to lose body parts, and contain aliens within. But it’s all in a day’s work for the Missouri-born Wightman, who has a stand-in character say, ‘I grew up in Missouri, see, so weirdness doesn’t affect me like it does most normal people.’”
—Asimov’s Science Fiction
“Full of manic energy, rich in colors and odors and emotions.”
—Lewis Shiner
“More evidence that the small press is alive and well. This collection of Wayne Wightman’s excellent, very warped short stories is drawn mostly from Fantasy & Science Fiction and includes such top notch tales as the title story, ‘Pardon My Extremities,’ and ‘The Tensor of Desire.’ Wightman’s characters are frequently bizarre, although in a likable sort of way, his situations always interesting, and the prose itself is of excellent quality.”
—Science Fiction Chronicle
“Wayne Wightman is agreeable company, both in person and via the printed page. As to the former, I’m afraid you will have to wait the chance to make his acquaintance like everybody else. As to the latter, however, now’s your chance: Read Ganglion & Other Stories, and enjoy.”
—John Brunner, author of Stand on Zanzibar
“Unlike most genre writers, Wayne Wightman has more than one move. He writes top-quality SF and fantasy, humor, and horror, and he never forgets to tell a compelling tale.”
—Fantasy & Science Fiction
Wayne Wightman is the author of more than forty science-fiction and fantasy stories published in venues including Amazing Stories, Fantasy & Science Fiction, OMNI, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. He has taught grammar, fiction writing, and critical thinking classes since 1970.
Praise for Wayne Wightman
“…one of the names I’ve learned to look for…a romantic whose stories confess his belief that individuals can be larger than life, that their decisions can change the world around them.”
—Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game
“One of Wightman’s great strengths is his willingness to go to the edge. He pulls no punches, whether the story is serious and violent or manic, wacky, and funny. You can count on him to take you places other writers shy away from.”
—Richard Paul Russo
Visit the Wayne Wightman website.
Ganglion
Pardon My Extremities
Life on Earth
King of the Neanderthals
Unnatural Strangers
The Skin Disguise
Somewhere Dreamers Wake
The Face at the End of the Mind
Being and Nothingness
The Tensor of Desire