Kelly Link's book Magic for Beginners
Yep, that was her, Alecia. It's so weird that you should mention McSweeney's right now, cuz someone just recommended that magazine to me, and I was *just* looking at their website.
That was one of her weirder stories, though. Maybe the weirdest.
I'll have to to try the link you posted, then, 'cause I totally didn't understand "Catskin"!
I've got these two McSweeney's anthologies you might want to look at (but you've inspired me to look into the magazine):
http://www.amazon.com/McSweeneys-Mammoth-Treasury-Thrilling-Tales/dp/140...
http://www.amazon.com/Noisy-Outlaws-Unfriendly-Blobs-Things/dp/193241635...
Oh, so kewl, thank you Alecia. The user reviews for the first book are kinda harsh, so I ordered the second one.
Read an interview with her,
http://www.boldtype.com/176010
Oh, you can listen to Kelly Link read her short story Catskin here,
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/spinning/episodes/2002/11/01
OK, so I've been listening to Catskin and looking up more info about Kelly Link, right? I ended up falling down a rabbit hole and look what I found!!!
The Internet Book Database of Fiction
http://www.ibdof.com/portal.php
and
Internet Book List
http://www.iblist.com/
and
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database
http://208.100.59.10/cgi-bin/index.cgi
*drool*
Thanks for this thread, man. I'm glad I'm "discovering" Kelly Link's work (there's quite a bit of her stuff online for free).
Excellent links. I'll re-read (or listen to) Catskin again...it's been a while, and then maybe we can discuss. That would be kewl. I'm taking a course in Fairy Tales, and have begun to really get into weird fantasy type stuff. But out of everything I've read lately, I think Kelly Link is the most talented, and by far. She's so friggin' creative, it's insane.
Did she write that weird story about a witch and a bunch of cats or something? I think I read it in a McSweeney's.