Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn’t easy to make friends when you’re the only inflatable boy in town…

First publication: With Signs & Wonders, An International Anthology Of Jewish Fabulist Fiction
Date: 2001
Author(s): Joe Hill
Nomination(s): No
Movie: Yes

The books, magazines and/or collections in which these titles are also published:
· 20th Century Ghosts
· Pop Art chapbook
· American Fantastic Tales: Terror And The Uncanny From The 1940s To Now
· Four For Fantasy

The book/story is published with these cover(s):
(Click image to see full cover)

9780967968353
Hardcover
Invisible Cities press
2001		 9781931229302
Paperback
Invisible Cities Press
2003		 All covers
20th Century Ghosts
–
–		 Soft chapbook
Signed/Limited #150
Subterranean Press
2007
Hardcover chapbook
Signed/Limited #52
Subterranean Press
2007		 9781598530483
Hardcover
The Library of America
2009		 9781598530599
Hardcover slipcased
The Library of America
2009		 9781848636682
Hardcover
PS Publishing
2013

Information about edition(s):
· The chapbook was an extra with Subterranean magazine #6 and a print run of #150 signed/limited and #52 signed/lettered.
· The hardcover American Fantastic Tales in the slipcased edition has the same ISBN but the slipcase has an other ISBN.

The story starts as follows:
My best friend when I was twelve was inflatable. His name was Arthur Roth, wich also made him an inflatable Hebrew, although in our now-and-then talks about afterlife, I don’t remember that he took an especially Jewish perspective. Talk was mostly what we did – in his condition rough-house was out of the question – and the subject of death, and what might follow it, came up more than once. I think Arthur knew he would be lucky to survive high school. When I met him, he had already almost been killed a dozen times, once for every year he has been alive. The afterlife was always on his mind; also the possible lack of one.

Other information:
–

Nomination(s):
–

Movie:
· Pop Art