# On an Odd Note

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{{short description|1958 collection of short stories by Gerald Kersh}}
{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name          = On an Odd Note
| author        = [Gerald Kersh](/source/Gerald_Kersh)
| image         = Ballantine268.jpg
| caption       = First edition cover
| cover_artist  = [Richard M. Powers](/source/Richard_M._Powers)
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| genre         = [Short stories](/source/Short_stories)
| publisher     = [Ballantine Books](/source/Ballantine_Books)
| release_date  = 1958
| media_type    = Print (paperback)
| pages         = 154 pages
| isbn          = 
| dewey= 
| congress= 
| oclc= 
}}
'''''On an Odd Note''''' is a collection of [short stories](/source/short_stories) written by [Gerald Kersh](/source/Gerald_Kersh), published as a paperback original by [Ballantine Books](/source/Ballantine_Books) in 1958. No other editions were issued until 2015, when [Valancourt Books](/source/Valancourt_Books)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.valancourtbooks.com/on-an-odd-note-1958.html|title = On an Odd Note (1958)}}</ref> brought out a new edition with an introduction by [Nick Mamatas](/source/Nick_Mamatas).

==Contents==
* "Seed of Destruction" (''[Esquire](/source/Esquire_(magazine))'' 1947)
* "Frozen Beauty" [''John Bull''](/source/John_Bull_(magazine)) 1941)
* "Reflections in a Tablespoon" (''Neither Man Nor Dog'' 1946)
* "The Crewel Needle" [''Lilliput''](/source/Lilliput_(magazine)) 1953)
* "The Sympathetic Souse" (''Lilliput'' 1954)
* "The Queen of Pig Island ''[The Strand](/source/The_Strand_Magazine)'' 1949)
* "Prophet Without Honor" (original)
* "The Beggars’ Stone" (''[John O'London's Weekly](/source/John_O'London's_Weekly)'' 1941)
* "The Brighton Monster" ''[The Saturday Evening Post](/source/The_Saturday_Evening_Post)'' 1948)
* "The Extraordinarily Horrible Dummy (''Penguin Parade'' 1939)
* "Fantasy of a Hunted Man" (''John Bull'' 1942)
* "The Gentleman All in Black" (''John Bull'' 1942)
* "The Eye (''The Saturday Evening Post'' 1957)

"Frozen Beauty", "Fantasy of a Hunted Man" and "The Gentleman All in Black" originally appeared under the "Waldo Keller" byline. "The Beggars' Stone" was originally published as "The Stone". "The Brighton Monster" was originally published as "The Monster". "The Eye" was originally published as "The Murderer's Eye".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.philsp.com/homeville/isfac/t58.htm#A1254 |title=Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections |access-date=2011-06-10 |archive-date=2011-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625084339/http://www.philsp.com/homeville/isfac/t58.htm#A1254 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Reception==
[Anthony Boucher](/source/Anthony_Boucher), despite faulting the story selection as a chaotic mix of genres, noted that the book "is unified by the ever-captivating Kersh personality." Boucher concluded that while "Mr. Kersh can (and often does) write a trite or inept story, . . . he is incapable of writing a dull sentence."<ref>"Recommended Reading," ''[F&SF](/source/The_Magazine_of_Fantasy_%26_Science_Fiction)'', September 1958, p.98.</ref>

[Everett F. Bleiler](/source/Everett_F._Bleiler) found ''On an Odd Note'' to be "a collection of Kersh's more important fantastic stories. . . . Good narratives, with unusual detail."<ref>E. F. Bleiler, ''The Guide to Supernatural Fiction'', Kent State University Press, 1983, p.102</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:1958 short story collections
Category:Books with cover art by Richard M. Powers
Category:Ballantine Books books

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