Long before the words "magical realism" ever cropped up in literary criticism, Avram Davidson was quietly creating a spectacular body of erudite, eloquent, evocative history-as-myth. The Dr. Eszterhazy stories, along with the Vergil novels and "Adventures in Unhistory", are the pinnacle of his accomplishment.

No one has ever had a better ear for dialect, a better sense of the self-importance of minor officials, a better notion of how Balkan politics play out in the back-alleys of minor capitals. And certainly no one has ever had such a perfect (and reverent) sense of the ridiculous, when it comes to the probable behavior of the Vicar-at-Large of the Unreconciled Zwinglians, or the demands of the Frores for an independent Bureau of Weights and Measures, or the universal value of a glass of shnopps, wudky, or St. Martin's.

If you do not love these stories, you're probably just not ready for them yet.

Each of the "short stories" is long enough for a meaningful theme. The elderly Catholic titular queen of Carinthia's summary of the history of the Reformation alone is worth the price of the book, as Dr. Calvin flees from France to Germany, changes his name to Luther, is thrown out by the local ruler, goes to Switzerland, changes his name to Zwingli, and that's why the Switzers have to come to France to be confirmed.

Avram Davidson imagines a world where science is slightly skewed: alchemy works, phrenology (studying the bumps on a skull to determine personality) is a real science, etc. The author takes each "scientific" dead end of the late 19th century (and earlier centuries) and builds witty, cohesive stories around each one. His characters are great and all his plots neatly resolve. The more you know about European history, the more fun you'll get out of his books (Mr. Davidson is, I believe, a professor of an arcane branch of European history).

This is only the second book of Davidson's that I've read, but now I'm hungry for more. The late Mr Davidson sure did have a sense of humor, in addition to his stunning erudition and marvelous story telling ability. As a bonus to these qualities, he shows that he could write with brevity as well. His story, Apres Nous, is only two pages, but was perhaps my favorite in the collection. If you like, say, Gene Wolfe, you should like Davidson's fiction as well.

I hate some of the stories in this book; the remainder leave me gibbering with awestruck, overwhelmed delight. The specific stories a reader might revile or adore (or both) will vary. It's a huge, manifold collection of shorts by one of the best writers in English from...

OK, I'm hesitant to say, "the last century" or "the century recently passed", partly because that's awfully goofy, and partly because I'm not near well-read enough to make such claims with authority. I'm gonna say it anyway. I stumbled upon a copy of a long out of print and svelter collection of Davidson's work (Or All The Seas With Oysters...) at fourteen and I've never been quite the same. He's not the writer whose works I wish I could have written: he is the writer whose works I would have wished I could have written had I been the writer I wished I could have been.

(we see why a writer I am not, Yoda knowingly says)

Davidson had a dear whimsy, a weariness, and a bite that was, dare I say it, very Jewish. When I (re)read his stories I feel as if I (an agnostic Gentile) have magically been allowed to understand & overhear the Yiddish folk yarns the kindly, crusty grandfather spins for the kids while the middle generation shouts in the background.

Davidson wrote as well as Singer. Perhaps better, at his best. No small praise; I know what I am claiming. Do not allow my muddy writing dissuade any reader from buying and luxuriating in this important collection.

As a long-term reader of science fiction and an admirer of the writings of Avram Davidson the publication of this particular book was, for me, a noteworthy event. I was able to renew my acquaintance with some of the delightful stories I had first read ten to twenty-five years ago. Each story is preceded by a thoughtful introduction by author friends of the late Mr. Davidson. I found these short essays generally very helpful since most of the writers maintained a correspondence with AD and could provide personal insights and biographical data related to the stories. The 38 stories are grouped chronologically by the decade in which they were published; Fifties to Nineties. I noticed that the excellent Ray Bradbury afterward had been used as an introduction to another out-of-print AD collection, Strange Seas and Shores, Doubleday, 1971. My only grouse is that I wish the editors had included a listing of the titles of AD books, novels and short story collections. Thank you editors Silverberg and Davis, a beautiful book and a fitting tribute to "one of the finest short story writers ever to use the English language"...Robert Silverberg.

Avram Davidson died in 1993. He was, as so often said, one of the great originals. His writing was elegant and complex: always adapted to the voices of his narrators and characters, always at some level humorous even when telling a dark story. He was one of those writers whose stories were always enjoyable just for wallowing in the prose: for its sprung rhythms and fine, out of the way, images. And his stories were enjoyable for wallowing in the atmosphere: for its evocation of exotic place-times, whether it be late '50s New York City or early '70s Belize or turn of the century Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania or far future Barnum's Planet, and for its evocation of exotic world-views, and the packing and repacking of wondrous, seemingly inconsequential (though rarely truly so) tidbits of history and unhistory into the backgrounds. And his best stories took these characteristics and harnessed them in the service of well-honed themes or (sometimes) clever plots.

This collection is organized as a retrospective, with the selections placed in order of first appearance. This is, I think, an excellent choice for any collection of this magnitude in that it allows the interested reader to try to track evolutions in the writer's style and thematic concerns over time. (I would suggest, perhaps, that the older Davidson was more prone to explorations of esoterica than the younger, and less often openly angry. Throughout his career he was ready with the comic touch, even in the midst of a darker context. His style was always special, but perhaps grew more involved as he grew older.)

Another feature of this collection is the introductions, by many of Davidson's friends: mostly fellow authors and editors, but also his bibliographer, Henry Wessels, and his son. This represent a significant chunk of "value added": they include some personal reminiscences, some analyses of the work, some elegiac passages. I'll add that the book is nicely and elegantly put together, and that editors Robert Silverberg and Grania Davis (as well as Tor in-house editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden) deserve thanks and applause for working to bring us this book.

But, of course, there is no Avram Davidson Treasury without the stories Avram Davidson wrote, of which 38 are assembled here. And the stories are the only real reason to buy and exult in this book. I'm a big Davidson fan, make no mistake: I come to this review not at all objective, and having reading all but a few of the stories already, many of them several times. At least one, "The Sources of the Nile", is firmly on my personal list of the best SF stories of all time.

There is not space to discuss the delightful stories herein contained. Suffice it to say that this collection is big enough, and varied enough, to whet the appetite of any reader whose ear can be tuned to catch the strains of Davidson's voice. And even this large collection inevitably leaves out many fine stories (the other Eszterhazy and Limekiller stories, "The Lord of Central Park", many more), to say nothing of his engaging collection of essays, Adventures in Unhistory, in which he discusses at length many obscure legends, and their possible bases in fact. So buy it and read it, and very likely you will find yourself searching out the out of print and small press books which house the rest of his work (for now), and very likely too you will be hoping with the rest of us Davidson lovers for a few more treasures to be dug from his papers.

Be forewarned that this is not your typical horrors from King. In this compilation of 4 novellas, King proved that he is not just the King of Horrors. he is an accomplished author of short stories providing each of the stories with a memorable and unpredictable twist.

The first novella Shawshank Redemption is a wonderful soaring tale of indomitable spirit and the ability of man to overcome adverse situations.

The second novella The Apt Pupil is a dark and brooding story of how a boy strikes up a dark and uneasy friendship with a former Nazi Death Camp Commander not realizing that the friendship starts a chain of events with unpredictable consequences.

The third novella The Body is a delightful story of 4 teenage buddies undertaking a journey full of adventure in search of the body of a dead boy. In the journey they discover the magic of friendship.

The final novella Breathing Method is breathtaking and beautiful in its detail of the story of mother who will do everything to make sure that her baby is delivered in good health.

Read them and discover the magic of King in his mastery of drama and adding unpredictable twists in his tales. King's skill is incredible and delightful in his use of mundane everyday events and objects turning them into memorable stories.

Pick up this novel and be mesmerised by King.

1). Rita Hayworth & Shawshank Redemption: I would have liked this one better if I would have read it before I saw the movie which is great. 2). Apt Pupil: In my opinion I thought that Apt Pupil was the best story in Different Seasons. I don't know why mostly everyone else didn't like it. I liked the characters of Todd Bowden and Dussander. Good ending. 3) The Body: Kind of a different story foe King (but then again this whole book was different from regular King). I liked Chris Chambers and Teddy. I didn't like what happened to them at the end. 4). The Breathing Method: Starts off slow but then it spectacular. Truly a gruesome ending that I didn't see coming. Overall I enjoyed Different Seasons. This novel proves that King can write stuff other than horror. I even liked how he wrote in an Afterword to tell us how he came to writing the novel. A good change for him. I liked all the stories.

This collection of stories has to rank as my favorite. Most people have seen the adapted movies: Stand by me; The Shawshank Redemption; and Apt Pupil, but the stories offer much more in the way of entertainment. What you get from King is nice, fluent prose, and good intellectual writing that builds the stories leaving the reader with an indelible mark of enjoyment. All the stories in this compilation are great reads; however, Apt Pupil would have to be my top choice. The plot of Apt Pupil is simple and engrossing. A young boy--a boy with curiosity that swells to unbelievable proportions--is enthralled with a Nazi living in his town. Todd--the young apt pupil--wants to hear of all the torture and torment of the concentration camps. Once these horrifying images are burned into his memory, he begins to change and so does the storyteller. I would have to say one of King's best. The other stories, although superb, are not quite as entertaining as apt pupil.

If you're a fan of Stephen King, you must add this book to your collection. If you've seen the films, you have not fully experienced the depth and emotion of the stories. Maybe now some people will revisit the novellas and short stories that pepper King's bibliography. These are gems, and should be read more than once. Buy the book.

Beautifully structured, ages well, satisfying on its own yet leaves you with a desire to sample more. The Boss in the Wall, completed by his ex-wife and partner, Grania Davis, contains many of the best qualities of Davidson's writing. It is filled with wonderful bits of knowledge you won't find collected anywhere else; each piece adds to the enjoyment of the story; the reader walks a few pages listening to a terrific story-teller and then - BANG - she is in the middle of an involving tale without being entirely sure how she got there. Read - read - read.

The late Avram Davidson is well-represented by this collection edited by his former wife, Grania Davis, and Richard Lupoff. I have previously read and thought of Davidson as a science fiction writer, but this book demonstrates that he was a master of the mystery as well. In fact, these stories transcend their genre and desearve to be praised in the broader context of short story literature. The 13 stories were originally published between 1964 and 1992.

While the primary locale for the stories is his native New York City, Davidson also uses New England, Memphis, Cyprus, "La Banana" and Mexico. They range back in time as far as the 1840's. More remarkable than their diverse settings, though, is how economically Davidson creates a sense of time, place, and mood -- with a just a handful of descriptive wordstrokes. The heat in a chinese laundry becomes palpable when Davidson describes a washman wiping his hands and bare torso before he folds an ironed shirt so that his persperation won't drip on the garment.

Few of the stories' twists are predictable -- even for an old mystery hand. I finished each story smiling at the inventiveness of the plot and enriched by the esoteric pieces of information (like the origins of and differences between sea island and nanking cotton) that dot Davidson's writing like raisins in a scone.