A collection of stories touches on art, philosophy, and literature, often featuring historical figures and places. Since the publication of Tatlin! in 1974, Guy Davenport has established himself as one of the most original and stimulating writers of fiction today. Twelve Stories draws the best work from Davenports early collections: Tatlin!, Apples and Pears, and The Drummer of the Eleventh North Devonshire Fusiliers. Chosen by the author, these stories are nowhere else in print. Guy Davenports short stories are journeys through history and the imagination. Radically original and surprising, comic and sensuous, Davenports virtuoso talent charms us into a world both familiar and strange. Whether in the timelessness of deep woods or fleeing the bloody dreamscape of battle, Davenports characters embody lifes contradictions.