"[In these stories, Lafferty mostly] seems to be writing about places that are not on the map but are real just the same. Lafferty was a traveler in his youth, and he may have glimpsed some of these places on the watery horizon; whether he was sober at the time is not the issue right now. … [Lafferty] has a reading knowledge of all the languages of the Latin, German, and Slavic families, as well as Gaelic and Greek. The army sent him to Morotai, New Guinea and the Philippines, and at one time he could speak pretty good Passar Malay and Tagalog. He turned to writing about six years ago, as a substitute for serious drinking. The tavernkeepers weep while we rejoice: Lafferty's stories are full of a warm, Bacchic glow, recollected in sobriety — euphoria, comradeship, nostalgia, and the ever-renewed belief that something wonderful may happen."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Fantasy authorsScience fiction authors from the United StatesAbsurdistsNovelists from the United StatesShort story writers from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Damon Knight, in the introduction to Lafferty in Orbit (1991)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._A._Lafferty
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
R. A. Lafferty
Raphael Aloysius Lafferty (7 November 1914 – 18 March 2002) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, famous for his humorous use of metaphor, narrative structure, and language in his very peculiar forms of etymological wit.
110 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by R. A. Lafferty →
Related Quotes
"Lafferty deliberately creates the mythic effect through a technique I call effective arcanum, and that rather than ex…"
"No true reader who has read as much as a single story by Raphael Aloysius Lafferty needs to be told that he is our mo…"
"[R. A. Lafferty] has to be the maddest, the most colorful, the most unexpected writer alive."
"It's an American classic."
"Those individuals looking from within the SF world may lack, or simply disdain, the linguistic and critical skills ne…"
"What special magic does Lafferty offer? The simple answer has always been his use of language. Well what of it — the …"
"The works of R. A. Lafferty (1914-2002) are not too far out be reviewed by an ordinary human being. However, one must…"
"One of the things I loved about collaborating with Nick was that he was like R. A. Lafferty. Remember those old books…"
"R. A. Lafferty is unique, in the old, unspoiled sense of the word. A genius as wild and joyful, delightful and unpred…"
"Lafferty has the power which sets fire behind your eyeballs. There is warmth, illumination, and a certain joy attenda…"