Virgin Books to Publish Paperback Edition of TEATRO GROTTESCO

I didn't exactly know where to post this as I didn't want to start a new thread. Teatro Grottesco was mentioned at The Quietus: "Here are the 25 best pieces of Horror Fiction of the 21st century so far…"
Ligotti experienced an increased level of interest in his work around 2014 when it emerged that his nihilistic, anti-natalist non-fiction treatise, The Conspiracy Against The Human Race, had inspired the Rust Cohle character in the first season of True Detective. How a reader will respond to Ligotti’s work will largely depend upon their sympathy, or lack of, with his extremely pessimistic viewpoint and their appetite for abstract imagery that doesn’t always coalesce around a traditional story format. Perhaps Ligotti says it best himself, through the mouth of Teatro Grottesco, the narrator who loans his name to this collection: “I, a writer of nihilistic prose works, savoured the inconsistency and the flamboyant absurdity of what was told to me across a table in a quiet library or noisy club. In a word, I delighted in the unreality of the Teatro stories. The truth they carried, if any, was immaterial.”
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“How a reader will respond to Ligotti’s work will largely depend upon their sympathy, or lack of, with his extremely pessimistic viewpoint and their appetite for abstract imagery that doesn’t always coalesce around a traditional story format.”

I’m glad the writer chose Teatro, but I disagree with everything about this sentence.
 
dr. locrian said:
“How a reader will respond to Ligotti’s work will largely depend upon their sympathy, or lack of, with his extremely pessimistic viewpoint and their appetite for abstract imagery that doesn’t always coalesce around a traditional story format.”

I’m glad the writer chose Teatro, but I disagree with everything about this sentence.
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Yes, they clearly make no distinction between TCATHR and the remainder of his work, or are in the least confusing mood for motive. Regardless, Ligotti's impression upon readers with his fictional works is wholly separate from their philosophical or spiritual disposition. It can strike different chords within different folk, resonating wholly within some, yet only faintly heard by those sadly numb to the muse. There is a wide swath between, and the scythe is sharp for the reaping.
 
That’s dead on. There was a lot of retroactive criticism of Ligotti’s fiction (and poetry) post-CATHR—certain readers who formerly adored or at least admired Ligotti’s work who turned against him after realizing how bleak and unconventional his personal philosophy was.

That stated, it is true that that underlying philosophy has been present from the beginning of his oeuvre. But there’s so much more to it than that.
 
I usually advise curious friends to start with "Songs Of A Dead Dreamer" by Ligotti.
Buy the Penguin edition. Most other editions are priced for collectors.
"The Conspiracy Against The Human Race" is priced lower than "Teatro Grottesco", which is why I think many get CATHR if they enjoyed "Songs".
Tom released CATHR into the world, a world riddled with flaws.
I doubt he expected the average soul to "get it".
 
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