Here are some of my favorite lines from this first-rate writer: 'I sometimes marvel,' Collier once wrote, 'that a third-rate writer like me has been able to pass himself off as a second-rate writer.' It was even turned into a TV musical starring Anthony Perkins, with songs by Stephen Sondheim! Of all of his works the one that has been adapted for other media the most is probably 'Evening Primrose,' about a poet who rejects society by living what might be the ultimate consumer dream: dwelling secretly in a department store. He also wrote screenplays for the Hitchcock show and movies most importantly he was part of the team the wrote The African Queen. His work has been adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Tales of the Unexpected. His writing style tended toward the flowery and sardonic, reminding me of Saki, Roald Dahl, Avram Davidson, and James Powell. My favorite Collier story - which I list among my all-time favorite fifty crime tales - is 'Witch's Money.' In spite of the title this is no fantasy, but rather a tale of cross-cultural misunderstanding in which the arrival of an American painter in a village in southern France leads, with the inevitability of Greek tragedy, to utter destruction. And how often has one book scored both of those? (In what way unique? Well, his first novel was entitled His Monkey Wife, or Married to a Chimp.) His story collection Fancies and Goodnights won both the Edgar Award and the International Fantasy Award.

(His work contains several odd father-son relationships.)īy age thirty he had switched his emphasis to fiction which gave him the chance to show off his, um, unique imagination. Believe it or not, that was fine with dear old Dad, who never required him to get a job or even go to university. As a teenager he told his father he wanted to be a poet. He was reading Hans Christian Andersen by age 3. Most of the references are obvious, but I thought I would write about an author who my story only touches on tangentially. The title refers to Jorge Luis Borges' great story 'The Library of Babel,' which inspired my piece, and also to a work by Dashiell Hammett. 'The Library of Poisonville' is full of literary references, appropriately enough. Wow! AHMM has really been on a roll the last few years with great covers.

The July/August issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine hit the newsstands yesterday (are there still newsstands?) and I am delighted to report that I have a story in it.

Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier