Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories by Neal Barrett Jr.My rating: 2 of 10 stars
This was a weak anthology of stories (in my opinion).
Maybe to someone else they will do nicely. To me, not so much.
Most of them are quite bland - leading nowhere. Most of them have a post-apocalyptic feel to them but are too absurd for me. Maybe this was te premise of that movement. Nevertheless there are a couple of stories that I enjoy (with reservations).
First Class of 61. In a world where most mankind have suddenly dissappear and aliens have come to earth. One of these aliens need a "ghost" hunter. The story is a bit better than others but, who are the aliens, why did they came, where are the rest of the population? Neither questions are answerable and the ending as all other stories come short of a proper conclusion. It just happens.
The other story is the Winter on the Belle Fourche. The best of them all but forgettable and confusing. A psychadelic western with sf and fantasy elements. At the same time it's a story about Emilie Dicksison, the writer and how she came to be a writer. Very good twist.
The other good story until the end was "Under Old New York". A post apocalyptic scenery that was well drawn. A girl, under age, is trying to make a living in New York. She mets several people, who either help her or try to give bad directions. OK good. Now, she arrives at the city and the story ends?? Why? What happenend to her? What? Pretty much dissapointing because it was flowing so well.
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