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The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold. (Reviews).(Book Review)-

Article Excerpt
The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold. By Kate Bernheimer. Normal/Tallahassee FC2, 2001. 192 pp.

Twisting, dreamlike, and surreal, The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold is a fascinating exploration of the many levels that fairy tales influence in the human psyche. The author, Kate Bernheimer, references various tales--"The Star Talers," "Bluebeard," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "The Armless Maiden," to name only a few--from a number of perspectives that, with each recurrence, grant deeper insight into the character of the narrator, the titular Ketzia Gold. In the manner of other postmodern fairy tales, Ketzia possesses a knowledge of the structure and format of traditional lore that informs her views, leading readers to natural conclusions regarding the inherent values of their own, corresponding interests.

Bernheimer opens the narrative with a section entitled "The Saltmarsh Tale of Lies," a modern take on the classic "The Ditmarsh Tale of Lies" (AT 1930), in which the fantastic nature of the events recounted therein--flying bathers and the like--are contextualized by temporal details that secure the teller's place in the mundane world. Cleverly updating the original, this section firmly establishes the unique voice that Ketzia utilizes in the telling of her story. After recounting the unlikely events, the speaker says, "Shut up if you don't believe me....So open the window and let the lies out, I say" (11), creating the simultaneous impression of both an unruly child...