My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales Kindle Edition

Like any collection, there are highs and lows. But an amazing, bloody collection with incest, murder, hate, love, schemes, plots - all the stuff that makes children's tales worth reading. "Cat's Skin", "Mermaid in The Tree", "The Brother and The Bird", "Hansel and Gretel"...and many others. Can't recall Neil Gaiman's bit but it didn't work, and a couple of others fell flat. But even the ones that left me wondering like "The Half Life of Rumplestiltskin" are challenging are weird. If you like creative non-fiction and/or are into fairy tales, this is the one for you.

AN AMAZING BOOK. If you're not familiar with a lot of the original fairy tales (not the Grimms or Anderson versions, but as close to the original as possible) try going on SurLaLune for a frame of reference. But, the revisions in this book are amazing. Seriously.

See the headline. loved this book.

Wonderful blending of old+new fairy tales. Enjoyed reading as simple stories ands well be a wonderful addition to my collection for my academic research.

If you think you're a fan of fairy tales but all you know are the watered-down, Disneyfied versions, steer clear of this book. These are real fairy tales, not magical stories with happy endings to read to your kids at bedtime. They don't flinch away from cannibalism, bestiality, incest, abuse, insanity, death, and general deviance. These modern tales don't stick very closely to the specific stories that inspired them but they DO honor the spirit of them and of fairy tales in general. I LOVE updated/modern/fractured fairy tales and I read them often but most of the time I find one or two good stories amidst a bunch of weak, sugary stuff. This is the first collection I've ever found that didn't disappoint.

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me is a collection of forty fairy tales written by various authors, both well known and somewhat unknown. Each author has submitted a retelling or reimagining of classic fairytales from across the world. The editor and creator of this collection of fairytales is Kate Bernheimer. Bernheimer has been working within the fairy tale genre for some time now and is also the founder of the Fairy Tale Review. In her concise but informative introduction to the book she states that her intention and reasoning for this specific collection of fairy tales was to gather all kinds of literary writers, which she accomplished very well. Bernheimer believes that this is the perfect time for fairy tales to be celebrated and states, "This book can help us move forward as readers in a moment of insecurity about the future of books." The collection of fairy tales includes authors such as, Aimee Bender, Neil LaBute, Joy Williams, and many more. Each of the authors has written an interpretation of a classic fairytale. The book provides a very well structured format for reading fairy tales that is easy to follow, even for fairytale newcomers. The idea for the collection as a whole is very unique and creative and each individual story seems to be better than the next. The variety of authors and style of writing found in the collection makes it truly unique and extremely creative. It gives readers a new view on classic fairy tales. For example, I found Neil LaBute's submission to be particularly entertaining and well done. His story is titled With Hair of Hand-Spun Gold and it is a reimagining of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. The story takes place in a time period after that of the original fairy tale and told as a nine page monologue by Rumpelstiltskin to what seems to be us, the reader. We are immediately thrown into the story with no pervious knowledge and are left to figure out what is going on. This is my favorite piece in the collection because of the mysterious style it is written in although all the works found in the book are equally as original and creative. Perhaps the best aspects of this novel are the author's notes at the end of each story. After each story there is a short note from the author of the story to the reader which explains their intentions for writing their story and any other useful information they think we should know. Most of the authors include their own exposure to the fairy tale genre and why they like it. I felt this was one of the most important parts of the book because it gives the reader an inside look at what the authors of these stories think of fairy tales and why they are important to them. This allows the reader to get a better understanding of why fairy tales are essential to the literary world, as well as the film industry. Bernheimer's collection of modern fairy tales has done exactly what the author intended. After reading the book the reader is left with a new found appreciation for the fairy tale genre regardless of their prior knowledge of fairy tales. The book does a great job of showing its readers that fairy tales can still and are still being written. It also lets the reader know that this is only a small sample of the writing that is available in the fairy tale genre and it leaves the reader wanting more. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in fairy tales or people who just want to become more familiar with them and the true stories that lie behind the Disney versions.

nothing to dislike other than wishing there were more

This book was fantastic! I really liked the modern fairy tales in here. Some got a little boring, but for the most part, it was a very fun read. It is great for a quick college assignment in creative writing!

I really enjoyed My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me. It’s a great, diverse collection of stories. I love fairy tales, especially darker ones intended for adults. Some of my favourite stories are the adult fairy tales edited by Ellen Datlow. I loved the cover and this is one of the reasons I bought the book. That and the crazy title. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me contains a good mix of stories and there’s something for everyone. I loved how some stories pretty closely resembled the original fairy tale and how some were unrecognisable. Among my favourites were Baba Iaga and the Pelican Child by Joy Williams, Snow White, Rose Red by Lydia Millet, The Wild Swans by Michael Cunningham, A Bucket of Warm Spit by Michael Martone and Blue-Bearded Lover by Joyce Carol Oates.

A fresh take on old fairytales.

Great compendium of odd little tales, A must-read for an Angela Carter fan!

I love the title but this book was a dull read. Maybe I got too old but these fairy tales really challenged me to understand and like them. They let me with a feeling of 'yuck'.

40 fiabe, dai Grimm ad Andersen, dalla tradizione russa a quella nordica, riscritte da autori di successo. Bello e divertente.