Paperjack — Charles de Lint

Set in Newford and featuring musician Geordie Riddell, this novella about a homeless man called Paperjack is classic de Lint -- a poignant, mysterious tale about love, loss and learning how to move on. A finalist for the World Fantasy Award, Paperjack is a standalone story, but picks up some of the threads of a previous tale called "Timeskip."

First published in a limited edition of 137 copies by Cheap Street Press, 1991; also appears in Dreams Underfoot.

I can never recapture the feeling of first arriving in Newford and meeting the people and seeing the sights as a newcomer. However, part of the beauty of Newford is the sense that it has always been there, that de Lint is a reporter who occasionally files stories from a reality stranger and more beautiful than ours. De Lint also manages to keep each new Newford story fresh and captivating because he is so generous and loving in his depiction of the characters. Yes, there are a group of core characters whose stories recur most often, but a city like Newford has so many intriguing people in it, so many diverse stories to tell, so much pain and triumph to chronicle.
-- Challenging Destiny

Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend -- all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
-- Alice Hoffman

Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
-- Holly Black

De Lint is probably the finest contemporary author of fantasy
â€" Booklist, American Library Association

Unlike most fantasy writers who deal with battles between ultimate good and evil, de Lint concentrates on smaller, very personal conflicts. Perhaps this is what makes him accessible to the non-fantasy audience as well as the hard-core fans. Perhaps it's just damned fine writing.
â€" Quill & Quire

De Lint's evocative images, both ordinary and fantastic, jolt the imagination.
â€" Publishers Weekly

It is hard to imagine urban fantasy done with greater skill
â€" Booklist, American Library Association