The Evolution of Reptilian Handbags and Other Stories

by Melanie Lamaga

An unhappy housewife flees with her lover as civilization collapses in a tsunami of trash. A bank teller aids invisible thieves. A welder learns she has the power to kill with a kiss. A hive of women transforms tourists with arcane sexual rites. A Korean War sniper stalks his doppelganger: a children’s television host. Amnesiac goddesses-turned-farmers struggle for survival in war-torn, post-apocalyptic Iowa.

By turns emotionally resonant and irreverent, surreal and sexy, these ten stories swirl with unseen currents, blending the fantastic and the mundane to get to the deeper truths of our existence.

“Lamaga’s stories are magical, but they’re not the same old magic. Old magic is made new again, and new magic blooms in the most unexpected places. With a remarkable range for a slender volume, these stories are delightful, moving, and just plain fun.” −Dennis Danvers, author of The Circuit of Heaven

“… richly imagined, delightfully various, subtle, mysterious, humane, and very welcome additions to the growing canon of the American Fantastic.” −Tom De Haven, author of It’s Superman!