Peter S. Beagle

Okay, I’m making another exception to may practice of only doing birthday posts on authors, artists, and editors who have passed on.  Peter S. Beagle (b. April 20, 1939) is one of those few authors who I will buy in trade hardcover.  (David Drake, Jack McDevitt, Larry Niven, and Patricia McKillip are among the few exceptions.)  Limited hardcover editions are a different matter. But I digress.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting Peter several times over the years.  The most recent was when he was in town for a showing of The Last Unicorn.

Today’s story is “Sleight of Hand”.   It was first published in Eclipse 3.  I read it in Sleight of Hand.  The book is only available in trade paperback. Unfortunately the price is $29.95, which is a bit steep for a nine year old paperback that’s only 287 pages long, even if it is Beagle. Sadly, there is no electronic edition. Eclipse 3 is available in print for $14.95 and ebook for $9.99.

“Sleight of Hand” is a moving meditation on grief and life and the choices we make. There were times I thought I was reading Ray Bradbury.  That’s both a compliment and a good thing.

It’s the simple story of a woman who has lost her husband and daughter in a traffic accident. A sleepy teenager hit the gas when he meant to hit the brake. Consumed by grief, the woman gets in her late husband’s car and drives off, wandering the country.

Stopping at a diner one evening, she stays to see the magician who is performing there. He’s impressive. She goes back to the motel where she had checked in before dinner, only the motel isn’t there. But the magician is. He’s waiting for her.

Turns out they met once before, when she was a little girl, an encounter she’s forgotten. Who the magician is, we never really learn. We do know he isn’t death.

She wants to take the place of her daughter and husband. But there’s a cost. There always is in these types of tales. And it won’t be quite what you think.

Beagle has a lean and smooth writing style. I am quite envious of how he can create a mood with a few lines of description and a bit of dialogue. I need to read more to see how he does it, but I know I’ll get distracted and start enjoying the stories instead of studying them.

“Sleight of Hand” may or may not be in your cash flow given how the economy is going, but even if you can’t read it, I suggest you get your hands on some of his other work.  He’s one of the best.