Dirty Work is Pat Cadigan's third collection of short stories. It was published in 1993.
The stories in this collection cover many themes, but one of their unifying factors is the twist in the tail, the final ironic flick of a sleek paw that, with careless, whimsical cruelty, toys with the reader.
Contents
- Introduction by Storm Constantine
- Dirty Work
- A "Deadpan Allie" short story, originally published in the vampire anthology Blood is Not Enough edited by Ellen Datlow, 1989. Also contained in the limited edition collection Home by the Sea by Pat Cadigan, May 1992.
- Second Comings - Reasonable Rates
- Short story, originally published in Fantasy & Science Fiction, 1981. Also contained in the anthology New Dimensions 11 edited by Marta Randall and Robert Silverberg, 1982.
- The Sorceress in Spite of Herself
- Short story, originally published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1982. Also contained in Space of Her Own, 1983.
- 50 Ways to Improve Your Orgasm
- Short story, originally published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, 19??. Also contained in the limited edition collection Home by the Sea by Pat Cadigan, May 1992.
- Mother's Milt
- True Faces
- Short story, originally published in the science fiction mysteries anthology Whatdunits edited by Mike Resnick, 1992.
- New Life for Old
- Short story, originally published in the anthology Aladdin: Master of the Lamp edited by Mike Resnick, 1992.
- The Coming of the Doll
- Originally published in Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1981. Also contained in the collection Letters from Home, 1991.
- The Pond
- Short story, published in the anthology Fears edited by Charles L.Grant, 1983. Also contained in the collection Letters from Home, 1991.
- The Boys in the Rain
- In the Dark
- Short story, originally published in the anthology When the Music's Over edited by Lewis Shiner, 1991. Also contained in the collection Letters from Home, 1991.
- Johnny Come Home
- Published in Omni, June, 1991. Also contained in the collection Letters from Home, 1991.
- Naming Names
- Short story, originally published in the anthology Narrow Houses edited by Peter Crowther, 1992.
- A Deal With God
- Short story, a loose sequel to Naming Names originally published in the anthology Grails: Quests, Visitations and Other Occurrences edited by Richard Gilliam, Ed Kramer and Martin H.Greenburg, 1992.
- Dispatches from the Revolution
- Short story, originally published in the anthology Alternate Presidents edited by Mike Resnick, 1991. Nominated for the Hugo Award. Also contained in the limited edition collection Home by the Sea by Pat Cadigan, May 1992.
- No Prisoners
- Short story, originally published in the anthology Alternate Kennedys edited by Mike Resnick, 1992. This version has a line about Daniel Berrigan restored.
- Home by the Sea
- Short story, originally issued in the vampire anthology A Whisper of Blood edited by Ellen Datlow, 1991. Also contained in a limited edition collection Home by the Sea by Pat Cadigan, May 1992.
- Lost Girls
- Short story, originally written for this collection.
