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The Ogre's Wife and Other Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups, by Richard Parks, Obscura Press, 2002, $18.95.
READERS pay far less attention to writers' bylines than the writers themselves would probably like. This is especially true with magazines and anthologies where one is presented with large numbers of bylines, all bunched together on the contents page, many of them unfamiliar. Readers are far more likely to remember the standout story than the name of the person who wrote it.
I know I'm guilty of this behavior. I try to pay attention to the bylines, but I simply read and sample too many short stories, and my recall for facts and figures has never been particularly good (just ask my annoyed teachers, back in my school days). But I do remember the stories.
I mention this because when a friend brought Richard Parks's collection to my attention, I started to read it on his recommendation, rather than on the...