A novelette is a challenging form of fiction to write. It is too long and complex to be a short story, but too short and with too few characters and subplots to be a novella or a novel. "Julie's Unicorn" is an excellent example of the genre, almost perfect in structure and balance of characterization. It is structured around its basic settings: restaurant (introduction to the characters), apartment (where the relationship between Julie and Farrell will deepen and where the unicorn becomes a character, too), museum (filled with failed art and failing artists), city streets (which develop the quest and serve as a transition from Julie's apartment back to the museum), and the tapestry (where the unicorn is tormented yet will finds its happiness).

Without looking for it, the structure is almost invisible under the deft characterizations and the enchanting comedy. Beagle creates both terror and...