cover image The Changeling

The Changeling

Joy Williams, . . Univ. of Alabama/Fairy Tale Review, $16 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-9799954-0-8

A scathing 1978 New York Times review by Anatole Broyard was enough, according to Fairy Tale Review editor Kate Bernheimer, to knock this second novel by 2001 Pulitzer finalist (for The Quick and the Dead ) and 1974 NBA finalist (for State of Grace ) Williams quickly out of print. This 30th anniversary edition aims to redress the book’s poor initial reception. A preface by Rick Moody prepares readers for a folklore-tinged look at “the lucky and unlucky fortunes of a drink afflicted young woman called Pearl.” The book casts its spell immediately, opening on a “not so bad” bar where Pearl sits drinking gin and tonics, “an infant in the crook of her right arm.” (Apr.)