''Gene Wolfe's Book of Days'' is a short story collection by American
science fiction author
Gene Wolfe published in 1981 by
Doubleday.
The stories within the collection are each paired with a
holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
within the calendar year that is thematically linked to the content of the story. Thus, a story about the resurgence of slavery ("How the Whip Came Back") is dedicated to
Lincoln's Birthday.
The material here was combined with ''
The Castle of the Otter'' to make the volume ''
Castle of Days''.
The stories (and their respective holidays)
* Date Due (No holiday assigned)
** A story hidden in the introduction about a University student who steals books from his University Library.
* "How the Whip Came Back" (Lincoln's Birthday)
* "Of Relays and Roses" (
Valentine's Day)
* "Paul's Treehouse" (
Arbor Day)
* "St. Brandon" (
St. Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
)
* "Beautyland" (
Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...
)
* "Car Sinister" (
Mother's Day)
* "The Blue Mouse" (
Armed Forces Day)
* "
How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion" (
Memorial Day)
* "The Adopted Father" (
Father's Day)
* "Forlesen" (
Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
)
* "An Article About Hunting" (the first day of hunting season)
* "The Changeling" (
Homecoming Day)
* "Many Mansions" (
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
)
* "Against the Lafayette Escadrille" (
Armistice Day)
* "Three Million Square Miles" (
Thanksgiving)
* "The War Beneath the Tree" (
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...
)
* "La Befana" (
Christmas Day)
* "Melting" (
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
)
Reception
Dave Langford
David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...
reviewed ''Gene Wolfe's Book of Days'' for ''
White Dwarf'' #72, and stated that "Unclassifiable . . . some straight-forward, some worrying, some enigmatic and elusive, but all beautifully written."
Reviews
*Review by Tom Easton (1981) in ''
Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'', October 12, 1981
*Review by James J. J. Wilson (1981) in ''
Science Fiction Review'', Winter 1981
*Review by John Clute (1982) in ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', February 1982
*Review by K. V. Bailey (1986) in ''Paperback Inferno'', #58
References
1981 short story collections
Doubleday (publisher) books
Short story collections by Gene Wolfe
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