[1] The book contains twenty short works of fiction and a section of notes on the stories by the author, together with an introduction by Michael Swanwick.

Michael Dirda in The Washington Post, calling the author "[o]ne of fantastika’s most energetic and versatile talents," and the set of anthologies "two princely volumes," notes that in them the Schweitzer "has finally received the kind of sumptuous career retrospective that most writers can only dream about."

He characterizes the contents as "over 40 of [the author's] favorite short stories, [ranging] from the dark and Lovecraftian to the touching and oddball."

Of the He calls author "an acknowledged master of the short-story form" with "one of the world's greatest imaginations," and "a quick sense of humor" one "might never guess from reading his darkest works," notably expressed "in stories such as his Tom O'Bedlam tales, which read like Terry Gilliam directing the Three Stooges on acid."

Fultz also expresses appreciation for the cover art, calling it a "[g]reat example of Van Hollander’s phantasmagorical style,[and] a perfect match for Darrell’s weird prose.