Simulataneously released in TP, trade and book club hardcover, being the featured selection in August. Tight, clean, flat, square, sharp and crisp book in DJ with small nicks and very light wear. 

A collection of thirty-three classic short fantasy works, written since the 1940s, includes the contributions of such authors as H. L. Gold, Fritz Lieber, Manly Wade Wellman, Terry Bisson, Suzy McKee, Ursula K. LeGuin, Jane Yolen, and Roger Zelazny.

This is the kind of assortment that can hook a reader on short fantasy. Thirty-two good stories--some previously anthologized, some hot off the press ("Beauty and the Opera" by Suzy McKee Charnas appeared in July 1996), and a few once considered classic, but now nearly forgotten (Thomas Burnett Swann is rapidly falling out of sight)--offer entertainment for every taste. Many of the stories ("The Overworld" by Jack Vance, and "The Changeling" by Michael Swanwick) also offer continuation elsewhere as part of a longer work.

Gardner Dozois's emphasis is on magazine fiction. As such, it's an interesting view of the evolution and increasing sophistication of the "pulps"--and their readers. For this reason this would be an excellent text for a course on modern fantasy writing. Stories from Asimov Science Fiction Magazine, which Dozois edits, are prominent among the recent pieces. Providing a brief history of 20th-century fantasy, the introduction seems written with the new reader in mind.


Contents
Walk Like a Mountain • [John the Balladeer] • (1955) • shortstory by Manly Wade Wellman
Scylla's Daughter • [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser] • (1961) • novella by Fritz Leiber
Paper Dragons • (1985) • novelette by James P. Blaylock
The Golem • (1955) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
Flowers of Edo • (1987) • novelette by Bruce Sterling
Bears Discover Fire • (1990) • shortstory by Terry Bisson
The Changeling's Tale • (1994) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick
Missolonghi 1824 • (1990) • shortstory by John Crowley
Blunderbore • (1990) • shortstory by Esther M. Friesner
Into Gold • (1986) • novelette by Tanith Lee
Space-Time for Springers • [Gummitch the Cat] • (1958) • shortstory by Fritz Leiber
Beauty and the Opera or the Phantom Beast • (1996) • novelette by Suzy McKee Charnas
The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule • [Griaule] • (1984) • novelette by Lucius Shepard
A Cabin on the Coast • (1984) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe
The Sleep of Trees • (1980) • shortstory by Jane Yolen
Trouble with Water • (1939) • shortstory by H. L. Gold
The Gnarly Man • (1939) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
Death and the Executioner • [Lord of Light] • (1967) • novelette by Roger Zelazny
The Manor of Roses • [John & Stephen] • (1966) • novella by Thomas Burnett Swann
The Overworld • [Dying Earth] • (1965) • novelette by Jack Vance
Extempore • (1956) • shortstory by Damon Knight
God's Hooks! • (1982) • shortstory by Howard Waldrop
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight • (1987) • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Tale of Hauk • (1977) • novelette by Poul Anderson
A Gift of the People • (1988) • shortstory by Robert Sampson
Configuration of the North Shore • (1969) • shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
Two Sadnesses • (1973) • shortstory by George Alec Effinger
Manatee Gal, Won't You Come Out Tonight • [Jack Limekiller] • (1977) • novelette by Avram Davidson (aka Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight)
The Signaller • [Pavane] • (1966) • novelette by Keith Roberts
The Troll • (1935) • shortstory by T. H. White
Death and the Lady • (1992) • novelette by Judith Tarr
Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros • (1995) • novelette by Peter S. Beagle
Preface (Modern Classics of Fantasy) • (1997) • essay by Gardner Dozois
Recommended Reading (Modern Classics of Fantasy) • essay by Gardner Dozois