Dreams of Distant Shores – Patricia A. McKillip

This is a book of short stories, rather annoyingly including the novella length “Something Rich and Strange” – which I already own in a stand alone illustrated edition. I like that story, but I wish I’d had more new material to read.

My favorite story was “The Gorgon in the Cupboard” – the tale of a young painter (picture pre-Raphaelite Victorian) searching for his muse.   He somehow manages to summon Medusa. Medusa’s voice is great – she’s funny, and knows exactly what Harry needs – which is not at all what he thinks he needs. It turns into a really sweet story about finding things where you’ve forgotten to look for them.