We Never Talk About My Brother by
Peter S. Beagle
Beagle's Back!
Modern parables of love, death, and transformation are peppered with
melancholy in this extraordinary collection of contemporary fantasy. Each
short story cultivates a whimsical sense of imagination and reveals a
mature, darker voice than previously experienced from this legendary
author. In one tale the Angel of Death enjoys newfound celebrity while
moonlighting as an anchorman on the network news, while in another the
shortsighted ruler of a gentle realm betrays himself in dreaming of a
manageable war. Further storylines include an American librarian who
discovers that, much to his surprise and sadness, he is the last living
Frenchman, and rivals in a supernatural battle who decide to forgo pistols
at dawn, choosing instead to duel with dramatic recitations of terrible
poetry. Featuring several previously unpublished stories alongside a bevy
of recently released works, this haunting compilation is appealing to both
genre readers and mainstream literature lovers.

Personal Review: We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S.
Beagle
It's been 2 1/2 years since Peter Beagle's last collection came out. Far too
long a time! Still, here are nine stories and seven interlinked poems for the
Beagle enthusiast. With the exception of the poems, all have been written
since 2007 and two have never been in print before.
'Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel' starts off the collection with a
story about a Jewish portrait painter and the Angel who comes to be both
his muse and model. The story is told by the painter's young nephew and
is full of telling details, love and quiet horror.
'We Never Talk About My Brother' is one of the best stories in this
collection. Two brothers have the extraordinary gift of being able to alter
the world. Not change the future, mind you. If they change something
than it's been this way forever, past as well as future, and the original way
the world moved is simply gone. One brother dislikes the power and never
uses it at all. The other brother is a newscaster and used his power to
make the evening news more exciting and action-packed, in the worst of
ways. This tale is probably the closest Beagle has ever gotten to writing
science fiction, and strongly reminds one of the best works of such writers
as Theodore Sturgeon and Algis Budrys. Still, it's completely original and
an extremely fitting title story for this collection.
'The Tale Of Junko And Sayuri' deals with Japanese mythology. Junko is
a good man but ambitious and he desires things that, in Japan, he could
never have due to his birth status and class level. Sayuri, a shapeshifter,
falls in love with him and, in human form, marries him. She sees his
ambitions and will do anything, including corrupting herself, to give him
those things he desires. This tale is violent, dark and tragic. It is also
extremely well-written.
'King Pelles The Sure' is possibly the best story in this book. Pelles is a
king, kind and good-hearted but none too wise. His kingdom is quiet and
peaceful and...well, dull. To liven things up he decides to start a limited
war. Just a little one, mind you, started quick and finished quicker. To his
horror, he learns that there is not such a thing as a limited war, not to those
in the middle of it. Pelles learns his wisdom a little too late but learn it he
does. The ending to this story is quiet, sure-footed and exactly right. A
real gem.
Next, Beagle moves to an avant-garde, New Yorker style tale. 'The Last
And Only, or, Mr. Moscowski Becomes French' is a tale of an American
librarian who slowly becomes aware that he is turning into the last genuine
Frenchman. More French than any actual Frenchman could ever hope to

be. This is a humorous story of sorts, although a bit black in nature, and is
a demonstration of Beagle's considerable range.
A giant step away from the previous story, 'Spook' is low comedy, with
Farrell--a character who's appeared in numerous Beagle stories and
novels--involved in a duel with a ghost over his lady love. The duel,
however, is not conducted with guns or knives or even wit. It is conducted
with streams of bad--horribly bad--poetry. The real joke of this story is that
ALL of the hideous poems recounted are real poems written by actual
literary figures. And they are truly horrible! This reader was moved to both
wincing laughter at the wrong turns the poets went down and a certain
amount of pain and recrimination at Beagle for having put all those tacky
poems in my head.
'The Stickball Witch' appears in print for the first time, although it appeared
as a podcast last year at the Green Man Review website (there are four
other brand new Beagle podcast stories there, which have NOT seen print
yet, so you might want to wander over there and give a listen). Set in the
early 1950s, it relates the story of a group of boys, fast friends and stickball
enthusiasts all, and their encounter with the neighborhood witch. ALL
neighborhoods, when you're a child, have a witch-in-residence and this
particular lady is a doozy!
'By Moonlight' is brand new and tells the story of an on the run
highwayman who one frostly night stumbles upon an old man and a fire.
The old man takes him in, warms him, feeds him and then proceeds to tell
him a story of Titania and Oberon. A tale of Tir na nOg. A tale of Fairie
and a tale of wits. Wits both Fairie born and Human made. And love, of a
sort and a kind. The more you think on this story, the better it is.
'The Unicorn Tapestries' are the oldest items in this book. Written in the
1970s for a never published book about the famous medieval tapestries,
stored in New York, these seven linked poems are seeing their first wide
exposure. They are well worth reading.
'Chandail' is another story set in the world of Beagle's fine novel THE
INNKEEPER'S SONG. As told by Lal, a principal character in that novel
and now well advanced in age, the chandail is a sea creature--an ugly
thing that becomes more beautiful the longer you look upon it. It is a
telepath of sorts, able to communicate with humans via thought pictures,
although the pictures a chandail sends are often tainted by the human's
own memories--and how a human understands those pictures can be quite
a different thing from what the chandail intended. Lal hates the chandail,
because they show her memories of things she's lost and can never
regain. She regards the chandail's efforts at communication as a form of
mind rape so when she comes upon a horribly injured chaidail on the
beach she doesn't flee or, as the creature wishes, kill it. Instead she
attempts to tow the chandail out to deep water, though whether through
mercy or cruelty even she is unsure. What follows is a trip through

betrayal, horror and wisdom that tells you a great deal about Lal and,
possibly, a small amount about you.
Look, if you've previously read anything by Beagle, you already know this
book is worth the money spent. If you're a new reader, know this. Nobody
in the fantasy field today is a better, more wide-ranging or wiser writer than
Peter S. Beagle. Not Charles de Lint, who provides a fine introduction to
this volume. Not Neil Gaiman, who's gone out of his way to praise
Beagle's work on his blog. Not J. K. Rowling. Not anybody. You're never
going to be sorry you've read any of his books. You're never going to be
sorry you've purchased and read *this* book. For older readers--
Hallelujah! For you newest readers, who are encountering him for the first
time, how I envy you. You're about to fall in love.
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