I've always felt that the short story is the ideal form for speculative fiction, especially of the surrealist or magical-realist type. Rosenbaum's stories support this notion because they allow us brief visits into interesting, often delightful, and ultimately unsustainable realities. *The Ant King* comprises stories that challenge the "willing suspension of disbelief" in ways at once satisfying and unsettling and (often) amusing.



Other reviewers have addressed various individual stories, so I won't do that here; besides, I want to read the collection again before weighing in more specifically (and I'm not a big re-reader). But if you like the John Barth of *Lost in the Funhouse* and the very best of Harlan Ellison (e.g. "'Repent, Harlequin,' Said the Tick Tock Man" and "I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream"), I think you're going to like *The Ant King*.