My Cold Mad Father

Stories about Fathers and Sons

Announced thirty years ago from the now-defunct Pulphouse Press, S.P. Somtow's theme collection of stories about Fathers and Sons has been "about to come out" ever since. Diplodocus Press now brings the collection into print just as it would have been in the 1990s, an interesting snapshot of Somtow's career up to that moment. There are four stories in this mini-collection, with far-flung settings. "Kingdoms in the Sky," about a mafia don taking his son to Peru to participate in an ancient and terrifying ceremony; "Fire from the Wine-Dark Sea," in which a tormented poet with twin sons meets Odysseus on the shore of Cape Cod; "The Bad News Express" about a boy who plays baseball with Death on a train from Greece, and "Darker Angels," the multiple award-nominated tale which became the center of an acclaimed historical novel. A "sampler" of Somtow's dark fantasy,