Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy ("The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife," "The Amber Spyglass") has sold more than fifteen million copies and been has published in more than forty countries. The first volume, "The Golden Compass," was made into a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Pullman is at work on a companion His Dark Materials novel, "The Book of Dust." He lives in Oxford, England.

"Pullman's "Fairy Tales" offers something unique: the chance to watch a master storyteller think through these most foundational of tales. . . . It is fascinating." --"The New York Times" "Zippy! . . . These tales are about plot and economy and speed [and] make great bedtime read-alouds for children who can handle a little gore. . . . The original tales weren't for children, of course; they were for everyone. So is this book. . . . Pullman is both erudite and funny. . . . He has fun with dialogue, and is particularly snappy with dwarfs. . . . You know what? He crushes it, as the youth of today are wont to say. . . . His translations are perfection." --"The New York Times Book Review" "It is such a pleasure to read these tales again, to experience their strangeness and richness, their violence and beauty, their sheer nonsense. . . . Reading Pullman's version it is impossible not to hear Pullman's own gentle voice; he is present on every page. . . . [His] interventions work brilliantly." --"The Boston Globe" "These wonder tales . . . compel belief as powerfully as any adventure or thriller." --Marina Warner, "The Times Literary Supplement" "Excellent . . . His beginnings are like invitations that cannot be refused. . . . Pullman shows how completely he understands the Grimms. . . . [He] pays homage to the Brothers' pioneer work and simultaneously breathes new life into a great, venerable tradition of magical storytelling." --Jack Zipes, "Los Angeles"" Review of Books" "A real pleasure to read . . . This is the kind of writing that stands up to years of bedtime repetition. . . . The author's best appearances are in the notes, which are often as entertaining as the stories themselves. . . . Swiftness and clarity, he says, were his guiding principles; to which he has added wit and invention. . . . Beautiful or grotesque, the mad poetry of these tales is often delightfully funny too." --"The Economist"

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