We all have our Mountains of the Night. Writer Bruce Taylor hikes though a treacherous landscape of chronic illness and family dysfunction-his own Mountains of the Night. Persevering against great odds, he nonetheless summits those peaks and to his astonishment, discovers a landscape of forgiveness, courage and joy.

Bruce Taylor's father wanted to be a writer but couldn't handle the rejection. How much support could he give to his son, Bruce, who wanted to be a writer? How do you identify with someone - a father for example - who doesn't want you to identify with them? This is the story of Bruce Taylor's struggles to own his power and identity - as a writer. "An extraordinary work of discovery." -Brian Herbert, New York Times best-selling author

For more than 40 years, fantasist Bruce Taylor has been entertaining readers all over the world with his masterful blend of surrealism and magic-realism.

Now these short stories--published in such respected venues as New Dimensions, Twilight Zone, and Pulphouse--have been reprinted in a special Twentieth Anniversary Edition of The Final Trick of Funnyman and Other Stories. From the vaguely sinister adventures of Mr. M. to the -Bradburyesque- boyhood exploits of Edward, Taylor's tales showcase an imagination at once intense and gentle, absurd and cutting.

A surrealistic/magic realist nightmare that lasts eight hours and involves this person "you" and the dream incarnations of his cat, Alleymanderous, by turns tormentor but ultimately guru, taking you on a painful but necessary dreamride to the midnight of your soul. Included also are 31 stories, other "magical realities" from the writer whom Elton Elliott, former editor of The Science Fiction Review, has called " . . . the transformational figure for science fiction." "A writer of imagination and insight" -Terry Brooks