The Merry Spinster

This delightfully disturbing collection . . . delivers on chills, laughs, and much more. There is plenty of humor to be had here, with Ortberg's signature biting wit and nerdy whimsy out in full force . . . Ortberg's point of view is thoughtful, insightful, and unpretentious. A wholly satisfying blend of silliness, feminist critique, and deft prose makes this a collection of bedtime stories that will keep you up at night for all the right reasons. - Kirkus, starred review

The book brings the shock of the new and the shock of recognition into play at the same time; it's a tour de force of skill, daring, and hard-earned bravura. - Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Dark and dreadful and persistently clever. Ortberg bloodily turns familiar tales inside out. - Rainbow Rowell, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Carry On

A collection of stories delectable, formidable, and nimble. As a fantasist and short story writer, Mallory Ortberg is without peer. - Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

Feminist fairy tales? Just what the doctor ordered. Texts From Jane Eyre and Dear Prudence agony aunt Mallory Ortberg conjures up the kinds of stories that will hopefully scary the bogeymen - with the emphasis on "men" - away. - Elle UK, Books We're Most Excited to Read in 2018

Dear Reader: It would, truthfully, be simplest to call the stories in THE MERRY SPINSTER 'retellings,' but that word does not adequately capture their dark alchemy. Mallory Ortberg has created a Frankenstein's monster of familiar narratives. . .[that swings] between Terry Pratchett's satirical jocularity and Angela Carter's sinister, shrewd storytelling, and the result is gorgeous, unsettling, splenic, cruel, and wickedly smart. I've never read anything quite like them, and I bet, Dear Reader, that you haven't either. - Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties: Stories

Mallory Ortberg has a voracious appetite for poison apples, and a genius for finding the places in fairyland where all the bodies are buried. The Merry Spinster will ruin your most-loved fables, in the best possible way.

- Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky