The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black

Cover art: Based on a photograph of Kenzan clay tile, Kenzan Co., Inc., used with permission. Interior illustrations: The Estate of John Connell.

WHAT TO MAKE OF DR. BLACK, NOT PARTICULARLY THE MOST orthodox of heroes or anti-heroes? As written by Brendan Connell, Dr. Black seems to have always existed and yet be utterly unique. He is simultaneously learned and, in certain environments, a bit of a fool. He has some tastes that are quite normal and others that are outrageous. There is always a bit of comedy as a sting in the tail of the more serious stories, and a seeming encyclopedic knowledge on the author’s part of the comic pratfalls of yesteryear in others.

— From Jeff VanderMeer's intro

Contents:

• Introduction by Jeff VanderMeer – previously unpublished
• A Season with Dr. Black – previously published in Leviathan 3, edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Forrest Aguirre, Ministry of Whimsy 2002
• Fragment Group A – previously unpublished
• Dr. Black and the Guerrilla – previously published by Grafitisk Press, 2005
• Fragment Group B – previously unpublished
• Dr. Black in Monte Carlo – previously unpublished
• Red-Haired Man in a Sweater, From the Private Papers of Dr. Black – previously published in Heliotrope Magazine, edited by Jay Tomio, 2007
• Fragment Group C – previously unpublished
• Dr. Black and the Village of Stones – previously published in Electric Velocipede, edited by John Klima, 2007
• Dr. Black, Thoughts and Patents – previously published in A New and Perfect Man, a Postscripts anthology, edited by Nick Gevers and Peter Crowther, 2011
• Fragment – previously unpublished
• Dr. Black in Rome – previously published in Album Zutique, edited by Jeff VanderMeer, Ministry of Whimsy 2003
• Fragment Group D – previously unpublished
• Dr. Black at Red Demon Temple – previously published in a Dutch translation in Wonderwaan, edited by Marcel Orie. This story appears here in English for the first time
• Variety – previously unpublished