'Curiosity is the most fleeting of pleasures; the moment is satisfied, it ceases to exist and it always proves very, very expensive.' Angela Carter's playful and subversive retellings of Charles Perrault's classic fairy tales conjure up a world of resourceful women, black-hearted villains, wily animals and incredible transformations. In these seven stories, bristling with frank, earthy humour and gothic imagination, nothing is as it seems. This book includes Bluebeard , Little Red Riding Hood , Puss in Boots , The Sleeping Beauty of the Wood , Cinderella: or, The Glass Slipper , Ricky with the Tuft and The Foolish Wishes .