The Short Fiction of R. A. Lafferty

R. A. Lafferty wrote science fiction unlike anyone else, and this gathering of his short work shows why readers either fell hard for him or walked away baffled. His stories read like tall tales told by a garrulous Oklahoma uncle who happens to know theology, mathematics, and the deep human past. In pieces such as “The Six Fingers of Time,” a man discovers he can slow the world to a crawl and learns what that gift costs him. Others fold logic into folk comedy, sudden violence, or a quiet cosmic dread. Lafferty cared less about gadgets than about language, faith, and the oddness hiding inside ordinary talk. This free PDF and EPUB edition is an ideal way to meet one of the field’s true originals.