Eight critically acclaimed short stories by Nebula-Award winning author Eugie Foster.Contents:* The Life and Times of Penguin* Running on Two Legs* Black Swan, White Swan* The Bunny of Vengeance and the Bear of Death* A Nose for Magic* The Center of the Universe* The Wizard of Eternal Watch* Mortal Clay, Stone HeartPraise For...THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PENGUIN:"Eugie Foster's 'The Life and Times of Penguin' succeeds in being, by turns, funny, thought-provoking, and poignant"—Douglas Hoffman, Tangent"Told from the point of view of a balloon animal penguin, the toy's brief but eventful life manages to jam in enough existential angst to give Kierkegaard indigestion, an astonishing emotional depth, and yet fully embrace the essentially absurd nature of [Eugie Foster's] story."—Martin McGrath, The Fix"both touching and uplifting"—Geoff Willmetts, SF Crowsnest"a beautiful fantasy, which employs the trappings of children's fiction, with adult emotional themes of risk and mortality."—Talie Helene, ASifRUNNING ON TWO LEGS:"A wonderful story, one that I enjoyed reading tremendously. It's one of the best stories I've ever critiqued in my years of teaching writing workshops."—A.C. Crispin"a beautiful story—touching without being sentimental, with characters that come believably to life."—Victoria Strauss"the beauty of the language carries one along...It is difficult to write a thoughtful story that features a terminal disease without melodrama, and Eugie Foster achieves it with style."—E. Sedia, TangentTHE BUNNY OF VENGEANCE AND THE BEAR OF DEATH:"a profoundly strange supernatural look at the morality of revenge."—Nick Gevers, Locus"the story is emotionally effective and, impressively, given its subject matter, makes its point through character and story rather than cold rhetoric."—Ben Payne, Tangent