Product Description
Welcome to Newford. . . .

Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song.

Like Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale and John Crowley's Little, Big, Dreams Underfoot is a must-read book not only for fans of urban fantasy but for all who seek magic in everyday life.
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My mother gave this to me as an introduction to urban fantasy. I'll add it to Mt. TBR for now.

I believe this is my first introduction to Charles de Lint, but it won't be my last. These interrelated stories take place in the same fictional city (Newford) and have related and overlapping characters. The stories range from the fantastical to the somewhat horrific or darker side of fairy tales. There are lots of artists and musicians and writers populating the stories, giving the impression that those involved in the arts are also those most likely to be able to see and experience the magical world. The magic here is presented as essentially coexisting with the rest of the mundane world, but only some people are aware of it.

I got occasionally weary of the humans in the stories -- the aforementioned artists and other bohemians -- but I never tired of the many fantasy creatures, ranging from Bigfoot to fae to wonderfully strange balloon men and many, many others.

I'm pretty sure this book was given to me by my mother some time ago, so thanks to her for recommending it.

Sent via paperbackswap.com