Watt, D. P. - An Emporium Of Automata

Watt’s first collection, originally published in a small printing, is a sumptuous buffet. The stories are gathered into three sections, which Daniel Corrick, in the Introduction, offers a sketchy roadmap.
The opener, “Dr. Erbach’s Emporium Of Automata,” sets the tone. The seaside pleasure fair of a simpler age, pre-internet, where favored diversions include a peculiar museum of mechanical curiosities. Luring those whose curiosity is matched by their innocence.
One hundred and ten years old, what an age to reach! The sweep of history, what a life! Or was it such a life? She seldom did anything, aside from the annual holiday. After all, she was only “The Butcher’s Daughter”.
“Room 89” should strike an dissonant chord with M. R. James devotees. Weatherby decides to spend a month in Ryde. Diverting enough burg, close enough to other sites, towns, should boredom prod investigation. The proprietress is efficient, and he makes a steady friend in Major Turnbull. The room is another matter altogether. And yet, Weatherby keeps to a parsimonious budget, so cheaply bought, dearly paid, as they say.
The second section, on surface, are mostly mundane observations of Roberta. An odd creature, intelligent, morose, manipulative, dismissive, holding fixed opinions that she may, or just as likely may not, elaborate upon. I have known, and continue to meet, others of this type. Best avoided, should you ask me. Not so the various male narrators who share a morbid fascination for Roberta.
The third section is more difficult to categorize (possibly why Mr. Corrick was so vague in his intro). Tales wander through theatre and puppets, the fog of Kafka permeates. Traumatized villages and dimly remembered czar … or was that commissar? Less straightforward, less traditional, these nudge the reader off-axis into so much loose sand, only to abandon the baffled traveler.