The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories
John Kessel

Reviews

"In his first collection in a decade, Kessel jumps from place to place like a jolty time machine. In "Pride and Prometheus," Frankenstein and Jane Austen intersect in an uncanny Victorian tale of unrequited love, while "A Lunar Quartet" introduces a matriarchal, hypersexual moon colony in the future. But as a group, these stories offer a sustained exploration of the ways gender dynamics can both empower and enslave us. Kessel's wit sparkles throughout, peaking with the most uproariously weird phone-sex conversation you'll ever read ("The Red Phone")." A-
—Entertainment Weekly

"Dark, wacky, wide-ranging short stories."
--Charlotte Observer

"Anyone who thinks genre writing can’t be literary deserves to have Kessel’s hefty new collection of stories dropped on his or her head."
--Time Out Chicago

"Kessel proves himself again a master not just of science fiction, but also of the modern short story, crafting compelling characters and following them through plots that never fail to please — or to defy prediction."
-- Metro Magazine

"Kessel's blend of dark humor and reality-stretching scenarios is consistently mesmerizing."
-- Booklist

"One of the best collections of the year."
-- Locus

"These well-crafted stories, full of elegantly drawn characters, deliver a powerful emotional punch."
-- Publishers Weekly

"Kessel is a deft stylist and a master of all his tools, whose range is nearly limitless."
-- -- SciFi.com

"Invest. Invest now…. Your returns will be multitudinous."
--The Fix

"A pleasant callback to the days when science-fiction authors read more than just science fiction."
--The Stranger

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