Let's be clear: trying to explain the 'plot' of a Lafferty collection is a fool's errand. There is no single story. Instead, you get a carnival of ideas. One minute you're following a man who decides to live his entire life in reverse, starting with his funeral. The next, you're in a world where a new, perfect language is invented, and it changes everything about how people think and act. Or you might meet the 'Ginny Wrapped in the Sun,' a seemingly ordinary woman who might just be a cosmic entity. The stories jump from prehistory to the far future, from Irish pubs to alien landscapes, all told in a voice that feels like a wise, mischievous uncle spinning a yarn.

Why You Should Read It

You should read Lafferty because he makes you see the world differently. His characters aren't heroes in the traditional sense; they're oddballs, cranks, saints, and monsters who operate on their own peculiar logic. Through them, Lafferty pokes at big questions—about progress, faith, greed, and what it means to be human—but he does it with a wink and a sly grin. He's never boring. His sentences are short and punchy, but they build into these incredible, layered pictures. The joy is in the surprise, in the moment where a silly premise suddenly reveals a deep truth, or a profound idea is delivered with a perfect joke. Reading him feels like intellectual play.

Final Verdict

This book is perfect for anyone who feels that most fiction has become too safe and predictable. It's for fans of Kurt Vonnegut or Neil Gaiman who enjoy a darkly comic twist, for science fiction readers tired of sterile futures, and for literary fiction fans open to something genuinely experimental and fun. It's not for readers who want everything neatly explained by the last page. But if you're willing to be confused, charmed, and utterly delighted by a true original, R. A. Lafferty's short stories are a treasure waiting to be found.