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"The Reasonable Ogre is a marvel, and a tribute to the power of story. The illustrations and language are so entwined as to be inseparable, and they cast a beautiful spell. Mike Barnes is a real fairy-tale creature."—Kate Bernheimer, author of Horse, Flower, Bird
In the world of The Reasonable Ogre, magic is nothing if not paradoxical. Ogres can indeed be reasonable, prisons may prove porous, gifts often come disguised as curses, and springs gone dry are only waiting to resurface. At once comic and moving, troubling and restorative, Mike Barnes’s original stories are here to remind us that fairy tales aren’t about the happily-ever-after: they’re about the strange detours we take trying to get there. With seventy drawings from the striking brush of Segbingway.
Mike Barnes is the author of The Lily Pond: A Memoir of Madness, Memory, Myth, and Metamorphosis, two novels, two volumes of poetry, and two short fiction collections.
Segbingway is an artist who lives in Toronto.
"Segbingway's lyrical monochromatic brushstrokes create artwork that complements the ethereal nature of the stories themselves, producing landscapes and figures that are alive with movement and texture and yet still intangible. The stories are beautifully written and inexhaustibly discussable, but they're also appropriate for private enjoyment and reflection."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"The 12 stories that comprise this collection are marvellous in the truest sense. They are strange and dark, unpleasant and open-hearted, by which I mean my deepest compliments."—The National Post
"The Reasonable Ogre…is intellectually engaging and filled with haunting pieces of art that beautifully complement each story. — The Canadian Review of Materials
THE REASONABLE OGRE
Hard Bargains
The Reasonable Ogre
Silver
Moonswoop
The Jailed Wizards
Small Plenties
Neverday: The Grateful Sprites
Wear Me Last
Storyletting
Luscious Dregs
Sloth’s Minions
The Glass Garden
Falling Water
Strange Detours
Grimus the Miser
The King’s Huntsman
The Spigot