Kelly Link: "Magic for Beginners"

Case Study of Kelly Link's "Magic for Beginners Stories"
Julieanna Herriven

Kelly Link is an American short story writer and editor. She graduated from Columbia University and the MFA program at UNC Greensboro. Link briefly taught at Lenior- Rhyne College and then began teaching and visiting various other schools. Her style is commonly known as "magical realism" where she places magical events in everyday situations. For her fiction pieces, she has won a Hugo Award, three Nebula awards, and a World Fantasy Award.

Table of Contents

  The Faery Handbag…………. B
 The Hortlak………………….C+

  The Cannon…………………. F

 Stone Animals………………F
Catskin……………………. D
Some Zombie Contingency Plans………………A
The Great Divorce………………A
 Magic for Beginners…………. A+
  Lull………………. B

Magic For Beginners

This story is about a fifteen-year-old boy, Jeremy Mars, his family, and his group of peculiar friends. Jeremy and his friends are obsessed with a television show called “The Library”, a un-regularly televised television show that changes actors, styles, and plots regularly. This has caused the show to obtain a fairly large fan-base that rely on social media to track when the next episode will air or discuss their theories about the show.

            Jeremy’s great-great-aunt suddenly passes away and leaves behind a Las Vegas wedding chapel for his mother and a phone booth in the middle of the desert from him. After finding out him and his mother are taking a road trip to these new inheritances he finds that he is able to speak with Fox, the main character of “The Library”. Fox then asks him to steal three books for her while he is on his journey to the phone booth.

            Kelly Link does an excellent job in keeping the reader interested. In the beginning of the story, the author begins out by addressing the reader and talking about “The Library” then going in to explain an episode of library. Throughout the entire story, the author does this, mentioning how Jeremy is a part of the television that he just so happens to watch himself. Kelly Link does an excellent job in creating stories within stories. The reader is completely intrigued by Jeremey and his unique parents and his strange friends. But at the same time, the reader is also curious about the television show. She simultaneously is telling the reader two completely different stories without them realizing it. Then she eventually shows that both of these stories are connected and are in the same world, even though she hinted at is right in the beginning. She keeps the mystery by not explaining all of the details but rather keeping you focused on Jeremy and struggle of leaving his friends behind for his road trip. This is the best example of magical realism I have seen and it makes me want the story to continue while at the same time I am satisfied with the ending.

Some Zombie Contingency Plans

This follows an ex-prisoner, Soap, and his experience at a college house party. Soap was recently released from jail after stealing a piece of art from a gallery as game. After being released his finds himself constantly wandering around and winding up at parties because no one questions why he is there.

            Soap meets a young girl Becka, the host of the party, who takes an interest in him and asks about why he was in jail. He tells Becka the story of why and asks her about her zombie contingency plans. These are plans that soap has for various situations starting with zombies all the way to sorority girls. This is his way of coping with everyday life and situations.

            This story has a very strong theme of deceit, this theme is strongly conveyed throughout the entire story, whether it be subtle or significant. The first sentence, “This is a story about being lost in the woods,” sets that theme in concrete. It is then seen as Soap lies about his naming being Will and we find out it is actually Arthur. Even Becka deceives Soap in what color her eyes are and lying to him about it not being her house. Kelly in this story plays with the identities of the characters, something many expect to be set in concrete. We are able to see the different characters that Soap is able to portray, such as Arthur, Will, and Junior. All of these have different personalities but, all in the end, they are the same person. The author is able to deceive the reader, bringing the theme in again, and that is what makes this such a great story. Even though the story lacked actual zombies it kept the reader intrigued as to what Soaps actual plan was and why was he trying to deceive Becka in the first place.

Stone Animals

This story is about a father and husband, Henry, moving his family out into the country to get away from the city. After moving into their new home strange things begin to happen. One of these things is that random items in the house become “haunted” and the family avoids those items as they make them feel uncomfortable. These items range from soap to rooms to eventually Henry’s son. Another strange thing about their new home is the yard is infested with hundreds of rabbits.

            This story follows along with the family’s struggles while also giving insight to their internal conflicts. Henry is conflicted on whether to go home or to work more because he believes his wife has cheated on him. His wife was so desperate to “fix” their marriage she told Henry she did cheat on him. The story is about what happens after this incident and looks into the problems that the family is having.

            This story had a basis for being great. The strange happenings of the home playing in with the family conflicts were enough to keep the reader interested but everything else in between was enough to make them want to quit reading. This story was twice as long as the others and carried extra sideline plots and random characters that didn’t really seem to fit along with the story being told. In the end, the reader is expecting a reason behind all of the rabbits or the things that are becoming “haunted” but there never is an explanation. The ending was extremely disappointing and confusing. Reading it several times I was still unsure of what had happened. Link is known for writing about magical realism but it was not evident magic may have been a part of this story until the very last two pages. By doing this is made the story feel incomplete and confusing. Overall this story was confusing and could be narrowed down, instead of straying too far from the main plot.

Kelly Link's Website

Interview with Kelly Link

Article on Kelly Link

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