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A review by jeffhall
The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith by Clark Ashton Smith
2.0
As the editors of this volume rightly point out, quite a bit of what is contained in these pages is of minor interest, even for the devoted Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) fan. On the other hand, "The Infernal Star" seems like the kernel of something that might have been quite good, and more importantly, "The Dead Will Cuckold You" and "The Hashish-Eater" are essential CAS works. The latter is his most famous poem, and is readily available in several other modern CAS collections.
The play "The Dead Will Cuckold You" is a rarer item, and both confirms that CAS' fantastical continent Zothique was his most potent creation, and demonstrates that he could spin an engaging tale without his characteristic florid descriptive language. By the nature of being a play, most the of the text of "The Dead Will Cuckold You" is dialog, and the dialog and the story are both rich and fast-paced, with an economy of language that is somewhat atypical for CAS.
The play "The Dead Will Cuckold You" is a rarer item, and both confirms that CAS' fantastical continent Zothique was his most potent creation, and demonstrates that he could spin an engaging tale without his characteristic florid descriptive language. By the nature of being a play, most the of the text of "The Dead Will Cuckold You" is dialog, and the dialog and the story are both rich and fast-paced, with an economy of language that is somewhat atypical for CAS.