John Klima edited this 2011 anthology of contemporary authors retelling classic fairy tales. At 473 pages these 33 stories (not counting the introduction, which is a small fable on its own) make for a big book. This is some great bedtime reading for grown-ups. Some are overly tragic or bawdy or just plain strange. Read them on your own before you think about showing your kids these.
The most disturbing story to me was "Little Red" which riffed on a certain controversial novel by a certain Russian postmodernist to great effect. The most "complete" story would be Gregory Frost's "The Root of the Matter" due to its shifting narration to tell the tale of Rapunzel. Paul Di Fillippo's Ailoura is an interesting science fictional rendition of Puss in Boots.
Rather than attempt to summarize each, I will simply list the contents (author/title) and link to the original source material. Note that some of these stories draw from no particular fairy tale but rather the conventions of the form, in which case I will use the abbreviation OW for "original work".
- The Seven Stage a Comeback by Gregory Maguire (OW)
- And in Their Glad Rags by Genevieie Valentine (Little Red Riding Hood)
- The Sawing Boys by Howard Waldrop (OW)
- Bear it away by Michael Cadnum (Goldilocks and the Three Bears)
- Mr. Simonelli or the Fair Widower by Susanna Clarke (OW)
- The Black Fairy's Curse by Karen Joy Fowler (Sleeping Beauty)
- My Life as a Bird by Charles de Lint (OW)
- The Night Market by Holly Black (based upon a folk tale from the Philipines)
- The Rose in Twelve Petals by Theodora Goss (Sleeping Beauty)
- The Red Path by Jim C. Hines Little Red Riding Hood
- Blood & Water by Alethea Kontis (The Little Mermaid)
- Hansel's Eyes by Garth Nix Hansel and Gretel
- He Died That Day, in Thirty Years by Wil McCarthy (Alice in Wonderland a la Philip K. Dick)
- Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen (Snow White)
- The Rose Garden by Michelle West (Beauty and the Beast)
- The Little Magic Shop by Bruce Sterling (OW)
- Black Feather by K. Tempest Bradford
- Fifi's Tail by Alan Rodgers
- The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link (OW)
- Ashputtle by Peter Straub
- The Emperor's New (and Improved) Clothes by Leslie What (the Emperor's New Clothes)
- Pinocchio's Diary by Robert J. Howe (Pinocchio)
- Little Red by Wendy Wheeler (Little Red Riding Hood)
- The Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman (OW)
- The Price by Patricia Briggs (Rumplestiltskin)
- Ailoura by Paul Di Fillippo (Puss in Boots)
- The Farmer's Cat by Jeff VanderMeer (OW)
- The Root of the Matter by Gregory Frost (Rapunzel)
- Like a Red, Red Rose by Susan Wade (OW)
- Chasing America by Josh Rountree (Paul Bunyan)
- Stalking Beans by Nancy Kress (Jack and the Beanstalk)
- Big Hair by Esther Friesner (Rapunzel)
- The Return of the Dark Children by Robert Coover (The Pied Piper)
All in all, this is a truly solid collection. Most of the stories I enjoyed very much; there were only a few which I found to be unfinishable. Recommended.
Published by Nightshade Books
ISBN 978-1-59780-220-8