Anthologies featuring bestselling authors alongside rising stars. Short story collections from some of our beloved authors with Roald Dahl, Raymond Carver and Anita Desai among the better known
Anthologies & Short Stories
Olympia Publishers The Luminosity of Crystals Dimensions of the
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£9.17
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Tiger Work
Book Synopsis'Both a work of lyrical imagination and a warning about the dangers we will face unless we take immediate action' New Yorker 'An artist's ardent plea for change' Kirkus This earth that we love is in grave danger because of us. Forests are becoming legends, rare as unicorns... If we continue to live as we do now, there will be no world left for us to fix, Booker Prize-winner Ben Okri argues in this evocative collection. He imagines messages – sent to us from beyond the end, from those who saw it coming – exhorting us to change now. Combining fiction, essay and poetry, Tiger Work displays Okri’s classic blend of storytelling, fantasy and magic.Trade ReviewAn artist's ardent plea for change * Kirkus *Approaches the potential cataclysm of climate change from many perspectives in this multi-genre collection, which is both a work of lyrical imagination and a warning about the dangers we will face unless we take immediate action. * New Yorker *PRAISE FOR BEN OKRI: 'Ben Okri is that rare thing, a literary and social visionary, a writer for whom all three – literature, culture and vision – are profoundly interwoven' Ali Smith. 'Where fiction's master of enchantments stares down a real horror, and without blinking or flinching, produces a work of beauty, grace and uncommon power' Marlon James on The Freedom Artist. 'Okri's rhythmic, folk tale-like prose is beguiling.' Sunday Times on The Freedom Artist. 'Okri's otherworldly literary approach has produced masterpieces.' Independent on Sunday. 'Okri's writing has a light-as-air elegance, yet its seriousness keeps the stories gravity-bound.' * New Statesman on The Magic Lamp *
£11.69
Cornerstone Mr Jones
Book SynopsisOne of the titles in an exciting series of beloved, charming and spooky ghost stories, brought to life by legendary illustrator Seth. When Lady Jane Lynke unexpectedly inherits Bells, a beautiful country estate, she declares she'll never leave the peaceful grounds and sets about making the house her home. But she hasn't reckoned on the obstinate Mr Jones, the caretaker she's told dislikes her changes, yet never seems able to be found.Trade Review[This] series of Christmas ghost stories, miniature books chosen and illustrated by the cartoonist Seth... [offers] chills-and charm. -- John Williams * New York Times *I just bought my set of these and they... are... PERFECT. I hope they do these every year. -- Patton OswaltEach of these tiny books-20 volumes now-is cleverly illustrated by the cartoonist known as Seth. Even smaller than a Christmas card, they make fun literary stocking stuffers. -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *Seth's evocative covers and black-and-white interior illustrations provide the perfect accompaniment to the stories ... Highly recommended for the horror lovers looking for something special in this post-Halloween season. -- Blu Gilliand * Cemetary Dance *The Seth editions are harbingers of a Christmas ghost story revival. -- Nathalie Akinson * Zoomer *
£6.99
Cornerstone The Captain of the Pole-Star
Book SynopsisA classic ghost story illustrated by acclaimed cartoonist, Seth.When the Pole-Star is trapped in Arctic ice, its voyage comes to a halt and the lives of the crew are in danger. Superstition soon takes hold as the frightened men claim to hear ghosts in the darkness – but it’s the captain’s increasingly strange behaviour that concerns them the most.
£8.65
Transworld Publishers Ltd You have a friend in 10A: By the 2022 Women’s
Book SynopsisBY THE AUTHOR OF THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AND 2022 WOMEN'S FICTION PRIZE-SHORTLISTED GREAT CIRCLE'The same chilling brilliance of Daphne du Maurier's most unsettling short fiction' FINANCIAL TIMES'Has an innate charm of its own. Beautifully realised' DAILY MAIL'It's a rare writer who can create a world as convincingly over a few pages as in a 600-page novel; Shipstead's fluency in both forms is testament to the skill she modestly casts as a work in progress' Stephanie Merritt, GUARDIAN'Maggie Shipstead combines cinematic scope with a poet's attention to detail' THE TIMESA collection of sparkling award-winning stories from Maggie Shipstead, epic storyteller and astonishing chronicler of the daring and the damaged. Diving into eclectic and vivid settings, from an Olympic village to a deathbed in Paris to a Pacific atoll, and illuminating a cast of unforgettable characters, Shipstead traverses the ordinary and extraordinary with cunning, compassion, and wit.Meet the silent cowgirl and horse wrangler escaping an ugly home life, only to fall into a decade-long triangle of unrequited love; a male novelist who is just reckoning with his own pretentiousness as his debut novel goes to print; a honeymoon couple's time in the hills of Romania builds into a moment of shattering tragedy. In the title story, a famous child actress breaks away from a religious cult, as she tells - with brittle candour - her tale of childhood damage and the dark side of fame.Exuding both tenderness and bite, Shipstead exposes complicated truths in this dazzling collection sealing her reputation as an astonishingly versatile master of fiction.---------------------'Shipstead is a writer who can vividly summon whatever she chooses, taking the reader deep inside the world she creates' FINANCIAL TIMES'Shipstead observes people beautifully' THE TIMESTrade ReviewThe same chilling brilliance of Daphne du Maurier's most unsettling short fiction * FINANCIAL TIMES *It's a rare writer who can create a world as convincingly over a few pages as in a 600-page novel; Shipstead's fluency in both forms is testament to the skill she modestly casts as a work in progress * Stephanie Merritt, GUARDIAN *Shipstead observes people beautifully * THE TIMES *Has an innate charm of its own. Beautifully realised * DAILY MAIL *Shipstead's prose is lovely. Precise, vivid, vital * DAILY EXPRESS *
£9.49
Troubador Publishing Ltd Magpie
Book SynopsisA collection of thirteen stories with settings from the now-vanished hutongs of 1980âs Beijing to the ruins of present-day Syria; from suburban Britain to a clinic in Kenya. In these stories men and women reveal their hidden desires â and their humanity â in their longing to escape, and yearning to connect.
£9.49
Arsenal Pulp PR Runs in the Blood
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£15.82
Olympia Publishers Short Stories of Wonder Danger and Shame
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£6.99
Olympia Publishers Encounters with Children and Young People with
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£7.59
Olympia Publishers Short Stories and Tall Tales Volume 1
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£8.54
Olympia Publishers Beyond Beeston Hill
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£10.79
Olympia Publishers Assorted Stories
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£8.54
Troubador Publishing THE DOCAMERON
Book SynopsisA collection of stories on subjects such as quantum physics, prime numbers, Irish mythology, medical ethics, robotics and the rise of AI. These stories twist and turn, and will engage and enlighten.
£9.49
Troubador Publishing The Soul Box
Book SynopsisA collection of exciting short stories from debut author Matt Edwards, exploring different cautionary tales speculating on the future of current technology and AI.
£9.49
Troubador Publishing Veronica Grove
Book SynopsisA collection of personal, amusing and beautifully written short stories looking kindly at the world we now live in.
£10.44
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers The Paradise Collection
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£8.54
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Stormacre and Other Stories
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£7.59
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers The Next Best Thing and other stories
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£8.54
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Renovation Stories About Starting Over
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£8.54
Crumps Barn Studio Personal Islands: FAREWELL MY LONELY and other
Book Synopsis"Ultimately we're all alone ... I have a lot of friends but there are some things no friend can share" Solitude can mean freedom. Or it can mean being in a crowd and knowing how impossible it is to truly share another's thoughts. Original and compelling, this is an intimate study of the human experience of isolation. Unforgettable fiction from TV and radio scriptwriter Michael Bartlett (The Archers, BBC Radio Drama)
£8.54
Arcturus Publishing Ltd Irish Fairy & Folk Tales
Book SynopsisImmerse yourself in a world of fairy queens and Celtic warriors in this remarkable collection of Irish folk tales. Set in Medieval Ireland, this collection of 10 stories were gathered in the late 19th and early 20th century by writer James Shepherd, described by James Joyce as ''my rival, the latest Irish genius''. The lyricism and humour within these retellings are unequalled and provide wonderful insight into the culture and traditions of Ireland. Drawn from the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, they include:• The Birth of Bran• The Enchanted Cav of Cesh Corran• Mongan''s Frenzy• The Carl of the Drab CoatABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Classics series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful collection which is perfect for any home library.
£7.59
Arcturus Publishing Ltd Norse Fairy & Folk Tales
Book SynopsisMeet gullible trolls, enterprising princesses and nefarious wizards in this treasury of 25 Norse fairy tales. Collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in the 19th century, these Norwegian stories are described by Jacob Grimm as "surpassing nearly all others." They include such well-loved tales as ''The Three Billy Goat''s Gruff'' and ''Taming the Shrew'' and open a window into the beautiful landscapes of Norway. These funny and fantastical stories will delight the young and old.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Classics series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful collection which is perfect for any home library.
£6.99
Canongate Books Look For Me and I'll Be Gone
Book Synopsis'This is truly inimitable storytelling' Observer'[A] master of language' New York TimesA boy stands alone, unable to enter the room in which his grandfather's coffin lies. Freddie Jackson's song 'You Are My Lady' plays on the car radio as a son is brought to a prison cell in Arizona. A narrator contemplates the Atlanta child murders from 1979.Look For Me and I'll Be Gone is vital reading for anyone interested in the state of America today. Historical and contemporary, intimate and expansive, the stories here represent a pioneering writer whose innovation, form and imagination know no bounds.Trade ReviewThis is truly inimitable storytelling. No one writes an American horror story like John Edgar Wideman * * Observer * *Master of language . . . Wideman has always been less interested in what a story tells than how it gets told, how the telling shapes our perception of our world. In works that erode the boundaries between fiction, memoir and essay, Wideman explores the impulses that drive storytelling itself, returning to some enduring themes and formal devices * * New York Times Book Review * *Wideman is one of the great tragedians of American literature . . . This collection, Wideman's artistic consummation, is also the site of his unravelling, and there are moments of unbearable vulnerability when the author puts aside his great gifts to lie down in the rag and bone shop of the heart * * Wall Street Journal * *Philosophical, ruminative and alive with wordplay . . . In each story, Wideman illustrates just how intricately the past is interwoven with the present, and there is plenty here to satisfy fans of captivating literary storytelling * * Booklist (starred review) * *A book that demands and deserves attention * * Scotsman * *Look for Me and I'll Be Gone, a short-story collection that draws fluidly from his personal life, is John Edgar Wideman's extended farewell to outrage . . . The book's style is so deceptively modest it stares you down and waits for you to realise it's cut your heart out while you coasted along on the calm surface of the syntax into a seething indictment of every aspect of society * * 4Columns * *Wideman's stories have a wary, brooding spirit, a lonely intelligence. They carry a real but atrophied affection for America. He airs the problems of consciousness, including the fragile contingency of our existence -- Dwight Garner * * New York Times on You Made Me Love You * *Praise for American Histories: The stories in American Histories read like an immense jazz riff . . . The acutely immersive world of American Histories is irresistible, and these profoundly moving stories will haunt you long after you've finished reading * * Guardian * *Wideman's rage against American injustice and racial prejudice burns magma-hot in his latest short stories . . . Immensely powerful . . . Challenging, animating, enlivening and electrifying; it does what literature should do. It's a bruising experience that leaves you feeling vulnerable and excited and alive * * Spectator * *Wideman's stories range widely over experiences from slavery to the present day . . . All are illumined by a searching intelligence and a willingness to test the boundaries of the short story form * * New York Times * *
£10.44
ACA Publishing Limited The Sacred Clan
Book SynopsisWhat good is a town without people? Wu Township is hollowing out. Our most capable sons and daughters have long since uprooted from their birthplace on the central plains to fuel China's economic miracle. The ancient trees now sit in the shade of a modern aqueduct, funnelling even our precious water to the metropolises beyond. From the marketplace where gossip is traded to the long-abandoned execution grounds, ordinary life carries on. For we who remain, feuds between neighbours compound the burdens shared by increasingly ageing shoulders. But If you know where to look, you'll find the town still clings to its customs and dreams. Let me show you around. If we're lucky, we'll run into the benevolent doctor or beauty store owner, and if we're not, the corrupt local official, perhaps even the souls of executed ancestors. Why do you want to visit? To see it before it's all gone... of course.Trade ReviewPraise for the author;"Speaks to universal challenges, problems facing not just Chinese villages but also alienated communities around the world." - Ian Johnson, New York Times;"It is in these stories that the universality of people's hopes, fears and frustrations really shines through." - Jo Lateu, New Internationalist; "Stunningly insightful... What makes Liang's study so compelling is the way in which it offers a glimpse of a world in which personal problems ... exist on the same level as broader social and political problems." Mark Rappolt, ArtReviewTable of Contents1. A Shining Cloud Moving Over the Skies of Wu Town 2. Drifting 3. The Holy Man, Dequan 4. Xu Jialiang Builds a House 5. Swimming in the Second River 6. The Beauty, Caihong 7. Meatheads 8. That Bright, Snowy Afternoon 9. The Exercise Ground 10. The Good Man, Lan Wei About the Author About the Translator About Sinoist Books
£13.49
Atlantic Books Black Light
Book Synopsis'The stories in Black Light are grimy and weird, surprising, utterly lush... I loved every moment of this book.' Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties_____________________A black light illuminates that which the eye doesn't see, uncovering what is hidden in plain sight.In this raw, compassionate, debut collection Kimberly King Parsons casts light onto the weird, the intimate, the eerie and the sublimely beautiful with unflinching gaze and ferocious eloquence. Over twelve crackling stories, each a glorious escape hatch, she captures the bright ache of first love, the claustrophobic shadows of desire, the obsessive nature of friendship and the rapturous pull of taboo. Filled with a frenetic longing for connection, her reckless yet resilient heroines exhilarate and charm as they pursue the promise of elsewhere.With psychedelic energy and deep humanity, Black Light chews over the messiness of being alive, the unsteadiness of hope and the ecstasies of coming of age.Trade ReviewThe stories in Black Light are grimy and weird, surprising, utterly lush... I loved every moment of this book. * Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties *Exhilarating, enchanting, charming and irresistible... This is real-deal fiction. * Los Angeles Times *There is a reckless kind of heat to the tender, broken characters in these stories... Parsons is both unflinching and eloquent in her portrayals of people as they burn and rage. * Paris Review *Wild and compassionate... Every story in this collection is beyond remarkable, and Parsons proves herself to be a gutsy country-punk poet with a keen eye and a stubbornly unique sensibility. * NPR *Kimberly King Parsons' weird, intimate, enchanting debut does a service to the short story form... The writing sings at an undeniably pleasing pitch, with many of the sentences hitting such high notes that it feels breathtaking. * Lit Hub, "The Best Queer Debuts of 2019" *Just keeps getting better as you turn the pages... Wisdom and humor are so thick on the ground you could find a sentence worth quoting on every page... Comparisons have been made to Denis Johnson, Karen Russell, Carmen Maria Machado... and we'll add Angela Carter. The Angela Carter of Lubbock, Texas. * Kirkus Reviews *An incredibly satisfying reading experience... Perhaps the greatest strength of this collection lies in its weird, eerie, and sublimely beautiful details of setting and character. . . . Vividly rendered in a Texas setting that bursts off the page like Fourth of July fireworks. Black Light demands the attention of all the reader's senses. * Electric Literature *Wise and funny, Black Light takes your breath regularly with its elegant observations. * The Millions *These are stories bursting with feeling. Stories of heartbreak and humor, lust and friendship. It's the kind of book that will break your heart while reminding you of the lush possibilities of language. * BOMB Magazine *Black Light is an unshakable debut, a collection of stories that will grip you under its spell until its closing notes. Compulsively readable, this book is as much a love letter to language as it is to the natural world, the darkened corners of desire, and the absurdities of girlhood. Gutsy, loud, and so very Texas, this one moved me in a tectonic way. You'll underline every sentence. * Bustle *In lithe, lyrical prose à la Amy Hempel and Noy Holland, Parsons's short fiction parses the addictions and desires of Texan girls and women, and will break your heart even as it makes you laugh. * O, The Oprah Magazine *The bad-ass gals in these terrific stories are all attitude, and as funny and appealing in their imperfection and thwarted desire as you'll find in any fiction out there. Parsons opens and ends stories brilliantly. I just finished this book, and I'm going to read it again right away. * Amy Hempel, author of Sing to It *
£8.54
Flame Tree Publishing Black Sci-Fi Short Stories
Book Synopsis"With topics ranging from slavery to space travel, the impressive breadth of this anthology makes for a well-rounded survey. Readers, writers, and scholars alike will find great value here." — Publishers Weekly Starred Review A deluxe edition of new writing and neglected perspectives. Dystopia, apocalypse, gene-splicing, cloning and colonization are explored here by new authors and combined with proto-sci-fi and speculative writing of an older tradition (by W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin R. Delany, Sutton E. Griggs, Pauline Hopkins and Edward Johnson) whose first-hand experience of slavery and denial created their living dystopia. With a foreword by Alex Award-winning novelist Temi Oh, an introduction by Dr. Sandra M. Grayson, author of Visions of the Third Millennium: Black Science Fiction Novelists Write the Future (2003), and invaluable promotion and editorial support from Tia Ross and the Black Writers Collective and more, this latest offering in the Flame Tree Gothic fantasy series focuses on an area of science fiction which has not received the attention it deserves. Many of the themes in Sci-fi reveal the world as it is to others, show us how to improve it, and give voice to the many different expressions of a future for humankind. The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure. Table of Contents: An Empty, Hollow Interview by James Beamon The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois Élan Vital by K. Tempest Bradford The Orb by Tara Campbell Blake, or The Huts of America by Martin R. Delany The Floating City of Pengimbang by Michelle F. Goddard The New Colossuses by Harambee K. Grey-Sun Imperium in Imperio by Sutton E. Griggs Seven Thieves by Emmalia Harrington Of One Blood: Or, The Hidden Self by Pauline Hopkins Space Traitors by Walidah Imarisha The Line of Demarcation by Patty Nicole Johnson Light Ahead for the Negro by Edward Johnson e-race by Russell Nichols Giant Steps by Russell Nichols Almost Too Good to Be True by Temi Oh You May Run On by Megan Pindling Suffering Inside, But Still I Soar by Sylvie Soul The Pox Party by Lyle Stiles The Regression Test by Wole TalabiTrade Review"With topics ranging from slavery to space travel, the impressive breadth of this anthology makes for a well-rounded survey. Readers, writers, and scholars alike will find great value here." -- Publishers Weekly Starred Review"Both wonderful and important [...] this book is nothing less than a powerful argument for Black science fiction to be recognized, to be seen, and to be appreciated on its own terms. " -- Lightspeed Magazine"An excellent mix of adventure and excitement. Some of them are in the creepy-Lovecraftian style, others are terrifying glimpses into the future. A great collection to dip in and out of." -- Terence Eden’s Blog"This comprehensive, powerful volume elevates marginalized voices of the genre, and is an excellent start for readers looking to diversify their reading material." -- Booklist"[...] the anthology contains a thrilling group of memorable, moving tales that often examine the intersections of race, gender, grief, tech and the fantastical." -- Scientific American"These tales incorporate sci-fi, dystopian, and oftentimes futuristic tales that intersect identity, technology, space, and time. While fictional, these are still great reads on the Black experience with a mix between century-old classics and more modern tales." -- Reviewed"The latest installment of Flame Tree Press’s “Gothic Fantasy” series has something for every speculative fiction taste." -- Library Journal
£17.00
Flame Tree Publishing Terrifying Ghosts Short Stories
Book SynopsisGhastly castles, haunted mansions, shadowy forests and long, dark corridors... This new addition to the Gothic Fantasy series is packed with tales of terror, bringing together the new and the familiar, the unusual and the unexpected. Featuring many stories from open submissions by new writers, Terrifying Ghosts Short Stories delivers a satisfying read for anyone fascinated by glimpses of the beyond: some of the master storytellers included are E.F. Benson, Amelia B. Edwards, Lafcadio Hearn, Henry James, M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu and Edith Wharton. New, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Die Booth, Nancy Brewka-Clark, Ramsey Campbell, Dan Coxon, Felix Flynn, Robert Ford, Lyndsay E. Gilbert, Lisa L. Hannett, Sarah Hans, Sean Hogan, O.R. Kennett, John Kiste, Spencer Koelle, Jessica Landry, J.A.W. McCarthy, Marshall J. Moore, Joe Nazare, Michael Nethercott, Adam L.G. Nevill, Michelle Tang, and Jeffrey Thomas. The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.
£17.00
Everyman A Few Quick Ones
Book SynopsisA collection from the master, containing The Fat of the Land (Freddie Widgeon) Scratch Man (The Oldest Member) The Right Approach (Mr Mulliner), Jeeves Makes An Omelette, The Word In Season (Bingo Little), Big Business (Mr Mulliner), Leave It To Algy (Bingo Little), Joy Bells For Walter (Golf story), A Tithe For Charity (Ukridge), Oofy, Freddie and the Beef Trust (Freddie Widgeon)Trade ReviewThe finest and funniest writer the past century ever knew * Stephen Fry *Sublime comic genius * Ben Elton *
£12.34
Everyman Elizabeth Bowen: Collected Stories
Book SynopsisA brilliant and much admired novelist, Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) surpassed herself as a writer of short fiction: 'the supreme genius of her time', writes John Banville in his introduction; 'There is not a story in this substantial volume ... that is not brought off beautifully.' A substantial volume indeed, Including 79 stories written over four decades, ranging in setting from the County Cork of the author's Anglo-Irish childhood to bomb-ravaged London where she coolly sat out the War, evoked with vivid and impeccable artistry. She has a disturbing sense of the uncanny, an acute eye for social comedy and her often emotionally secretive characters are depicted with penetrating psychological insight. She is good at houses, ghosts, children, animals ... 900 pages of sheer delightTrade ReviewShe is a major writer; her name should appear on any responsible list of the ten most important fiction writers in English on this side of the Atlantic in this century. She is what happened after Bloomsbury ... the link that connects Virginia Woolf with Irish Murdoch and Muriel Spark. -- Victoria GlendinningBowen's stories show the awesome capabilities of the English language and the surprise and mystery of the human soul. -- Anne TylerBowen's stories are novels that have been split open like rocks and reveal the glitter of the naked crystals which have formed them. -- V. S. Pritchett
£17.09
Everyman Horse Stories
Book SynopsisHorse Stories corrals two centuries of short fiction about the most majestic of domesticated animals. From writers old and new come stories of magnificent stallions, broken-down nags, racehorses, ponies, cowboy's steeds, workhorses, and beloved companions, in a wide variety of literary styles. Rudyard Kipling transports us the polo fields of India, Bret Harte to the ranches of the Wild West. Arthur Conan Doyle makes a famous thoroughbred disappear (or does he?), while Saki spins an amusing yarn about a notorious bolter. Isaac Babel tells of the horrors of war; Raymond Carver has a vision of runaway horses in the mist; Ted Hughes, Margaret Atwood and Jane Smiley explore the human passions horses can unleash. From the rollicking racetrack humour of Damon Runyon to the poignant lyricism of John Steinbeck, these stories testify to our varied and timeless fascination with the noblest of animals. A perfect gift.
£12.34
Everyman Fishing Stories
Book SynopsisFishing Stories nets an abundant catch of wonderful writing in a wide variety of genres and styles. The moods range from the rollicking humour of Rudyard Kipling’s “On Dry-Cow Fishing as a Fine Art” and the rural gothic of Annie Proulx’s “The Wer-Trout” to the haunting elegy of Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It.”Many of these tales celebrate human bonds forged over a rod, including Guy de Maupassant’s “Two Friends,” Jimmy Carter’s “Fishing with My Daddy,” and Ernest Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden. Some deal in reverence and romance, as in Roland Pertwee’s “The River God,” and some in adventure and the stuff of legend, as in Zane Grey’s “The First Thousand-Pounder” and Ron Rash’s “Their Ancient Glittering Eyes.” There are works that confront head-on the heartbreaks and frustrations of the sport, from Thomas McGuane’s meditation on long spells of inaction as the essence of fishing in “The Longest Silence” to Raymond Carver on a boy’s deflated triumph in the gut-wrenching masterpiece “Nobody Said Anything.” And alongside the works of literary giants are the memories of people both great and humble who have found meaning and fulfillment in fishing, from a former American president to a Scottish gamekeeper’s daughter.Whether set against the open ocean or tiny mountain streams, in ancient China, tropical Tahiti, Paris under siege, or the vast Canadian wilderness, these stories cast wide and strike deep into the universal joys, absurdities, insights, and tragedies of life.Trade ReviewA warm, witty, and wise collection . . . This anthology gathers genuine, artful verse . . . Good literary stuff to accompany a single malt by the fire. Buy a copy for the study and another to be battered in your angling grip. * Gray's Sporting Journal *
£12.34
Everyman Wedding Stories
Book SynopsisThe stories collected here--including such gems as Stephen Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," O. Henry's "The Marry Month of May," F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Bridal Party," Joy Williams's "The Wedding," and Lorrie Moore's "Thank You For Having Me", encompass comic wedding mishaps, engagements broken and mended, honeymoon adventures, and scenes both heartwarming and heartbreaking. There are glamorous weddings in Paris and New York, and more eccentric ones in the Wild West and on a remote island beach. There are nervous brides, forgetful grooms, meddling guests, interrupted nuptials, second thoughts, and second chances. Above all, there are all kinds of people - young and old, rich and poor, divorced and widowed, with or without children - joining together in the age-old quest for matrimonial happiness.
£10.44
Everyman The Best Medicine: Stories of Healing
Book SynopsisThis unique collection of medical stories approaches its theme from many eras and perspectives. Some of the authors included were themselves physicians, notably Chekhov, Conan Doyle, Somerset Maugham and William Carlos Williams. Bulgakov, too, draws on his own experience as a doctor in rural Russia a century ago, while Anna Kavan's story from Asylum Piece, takes a surreal look inside a Swiss psychiatric clinic, and Lorrie Moore's witty, grief-stricken Mother in 'People Like Us Are the Only People Here' examines the feelings of a parent with a child in the Paediatric Oncology war - 'Peed Onk'. Maupassant, Stevenson, Kipling, Conrad, Graham Greene, O. Henry, J. G. Ballard, Robert Heinlein, Dorothy Parker, Jhumpa Lahiri and Alice Munro all feature. Doctors observe patients; patients observe doctors. Nurses go about their important business, not always appreciated. Not quite everyone is healed. The meaning of illness - does it have any? - and of life itself, is called into question - and all in the most entertaining way imaginable.
£11.69
Everyman Stories of Southern Italy
Book SynopsisWoven through all these tales are the unique histories and mythologies of the regions of Southern Italy, encompassing Sicily, Calabria, Cantania, Basilicata, Apulia and Campania. Theocritus, Virgil and Ovid evoke a Sicily populated by Cyclopes and sea monsters, while in an excerpt from The Smile of the Unknown Mariner Vincenzo Consolo depicts the island in 1860, on the frontline in Italy's war of independence. The South's legendary legacy of brigandage and organized crime enlivens the stories of Leonardo Sciascia, Carlo Levi and Joseph Conrad. Curzio Malaparte and Norman Lewis immortalize the wreckage of Naples and the indomitable spirit of its people during World War II, and Elena Ferrante paints a spectacular portrait of a poor but vibrant Neapolitan neighbourhood in an excerpt from the bestselling My Brilliant Friend. Collectively, these entertaining tales plunge readers into the sometimes harsh and troubled, but always seductive and vital world of Italy's Mezzogiorno
£11.69
Canongate Books You're An Animal, Viskovitz!
Book SynopsisA parrot who speaks of love, a police dog who's a Buddhist, a microbe with an inferiority complex, a chameleon hoping to find himself, a scorpion with the fastest sting in the West?Viskovitz is each of these animals and many more; yet it is the human condition with all its highs and lows which is portrayed in these hilarious metamorphoses. You're an Animal Viskovitz is a whirlwind of ironic fables, a tour de force of comic inventiveness and intelligence unlike anything that you have read before.
£999.99
Canongate Books Hieroglyphics And Other Stories
Book SynopsisA beautiful collection - charming, witty and touching - these stories give voice to a variety of different characters: from the little girl who wants to look 'subtle' for her father's funeral, a child who has an email pen pal on Jupiter and an old lady who becomes a star through 'zimmerobics'.Often writing in a vibrant Glaswegian vernacular, Donovan deftly gives her characters authenticity with a searing power, aided and abetted by tender subtlety.Trade ReviewNot since Alan Spence came on the scene has anyone written better about childhood and her richly expressive Scots is neither forced nor fey. A page-turner to make you laugh and cry. -- Donny O'Rourke * * Scotsman * *Hieroglyphics conjures up spellbinding stories of childhood and change in voices so vibrant they leave you speechless. -- Willy Mally * * Sunday Herald * *Hieroglyphics and Other Stories is Donovan's excellent debut collection . . . Donovan illuminates exactly the dislocations and intensifications that occur within a relationship, whether between lovers or mother and child. * * Daily Telegraph * *
£9.49
Canongate Books The Fahrenheit Twins and Other Stories
Book SynopsisDeft and lyrical, this paperback edition of Michel Faber's collection of stories is his first since his auspicious debut, Some Rain Must Fall. It has sealed his reputation as one of Britain's most daring and original authors. Acclaimed for his pitch-perfect prose and brilliant characterisation, Faber is also celebrated for his mastery of contrasting styles. From achingly sad lost lives, through moments of exquisitely distilled happiness, to biblical innocence and savagery, Faber's characters are redeemed, abandoned, beloved and laid bare.Trade ReviewBy turns crepuscular, buoyant, delicate, wry, horrific, otherworldly, this worldly and organ-rupturingly funny collection is a vitamin-boost for the British short-story -- David Mitchell * * Guardian * *If you want to see just how far the short story can take you, you have to buy this book -- David Robinson * * The Scotsman * *As always with Faber, these stories are lifted by a delicate sense of otherness that suggest they inhabit a world almost imperceptibly parallel to our own * * Metro * *I dread to think where Faber gets his inspiration from, but there's certainly no shortage of it in sight * * Independent on Sunday * *
£9.99
Peepal Tree Press Ltd The Pain Tree
Book SynopsisWinner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, The Pain Tree is Olive Senior at her very best, unforgettable short stories set in Jamaica and Canada, now available in this beautiful UK and Caribbean edition from Peepal Tree Press.Olive Senior’s new collection of stories, The Pain Tree, is wide-ranging in scope, time period, theme, locale, and voice. There is — along with her characteristic “gossipy voice” — reverence, wit and wisdom, satire, humour, and even farce. The stories range over at most a hundred years, from around the time of the second world war to the present. Like her earlier stories, Jamaica is the setting but the range of characters presented are universally recognisable as people in crisis or on the cusp of transformation.While most of the stories operate within a realist mode, Senior also exploits traditional motifs. Collected here are revenge stories (“The Goodness of my Heart”), a bargain with the Devil (“Boxed-in”), a Cinderella story (“The Country Cousin”), a magical realist interpretation of African spiritual beliefs (“Flying”) and a narrator’s belated acceptance of the healing power of traditional beliefs (“The Pain Tree”). “Coal” is a realist story set in the war years and depression that followed as folks try to find a new place in the world. Senior’s trademark children awakening to self-awareness and to the hypocrisy of adults are here too, from the heartbreaking “Moonlight” and “Silent” to the girls in “Lollipop” and “A Father Like That” who learn to confront loneliness and vulnerability with attitude.
£9.49
Peepal Tree Press Ltd Tell No-One About This: Collected Short Stories
Book SynopsisThis substantial collection brings together short stories written over a span of forty years, including those first published in the highly-rated Song for Simone (1986) and A Way to Catch the Dust (1999) and more than a dozen new stories. The previously published pieces have been extensively revised. They range from stories set in Grenada at different periods from the 1970s onwards, to several set in the UK.These are stories that have a narrative drive, a meticulousness of construction, an exactness of image and a rigorous economy in the prose. They are inventive in their explorations of a variety of narrative voices – from children to adults, male and female, Caribbean and British – that establish a persona and capture the reader from the first sentence.
£13.49
Peepal Tree Press Ltd The Ice Migration
Book SynopsisThe stories in this collection move around in time and place, but linked by the experiences of the descendants of a Jamaican family of mixed Indian and African heritage. From Roaring River in rural Jamaica in 1908 where the descendants of African slaves make connections with new arrivals from Calcutta to work in the sugar cane fields, to Southall in 2013, where the Millers live alongside newer migrants from India, The Ice Migration is a poetic exploration of movement as central to the human condition, from the ancestors of the vanished Tainos in Jamaica who crossed the Behring Straits 40,000 years ago, who linger in spirit, to Tutus who is driven to separation from her family, to the constancy of moving on and ultimately return to Roaring River. The people of Jacqueline Crooks’ stories are deeply enmeshed in their African/Indian Jamaican world of dreams, visions, duppies and spiritual presences that connect them across time and place. What they discover beyond the strangeness of change of place and the hostilities they encounter is that life remains defined by its common crises – of birth, the complications of sexuality, sickness, old age, and death – and the comforts of food, stories and memory.
£9.49
Peepal Tree Press Ltd The Peepal Tree Book of Contemporary Caribbean
Book SynopsisSince its beginnings 33 years ago, Peepal Tree has published around 45 collections of Caribbean short stories, reinforcing the view that the short story is the Caribbean literary form par excellence. This anthology draws from those collections, plus a few guests, focusing on work written over the past twenty-five years, the majority dealing with the recent post-independence period up to the present. Though quality is the ultimate criteria, this anthology is unrivalled in its range across the Anglophone Caribbean and its diasporas, and representative of Caribbean ethnicities, gender and sexual orientations. Stories offer images of the city from ghettos to gated communities, suburbia, villages, the coastal margins. They display a range of contemporary concerns: social fragmentation, political corruption, sexual politics. They display a range of short story genres from satire, gritty realism, magical realism, fantasy, the gothic, the folkloric, horror, crime, erotica, flash fiction, the speculative…Whilst the stories in the anthology collectively offer an insightful picture of both the contemporary Caribbean and of the current status of the Caribbean short story as a form, the overall editorial aim has been to create a book that gives the reader a rich, varied and rewarding reading experience.The collection includes the work of, amongst others, Opal Palmer Adisa, Christine Barrow, Rhoda Bharath, Jacqueline Bishop, Hazel Campbell, Merle Collins, Cyril Dabydeen, Kwame Dawes, Curdella Forbes, Ifeona Fulani, Keith Jardim, Barbara Jenkins, Meiling Jin, Cherie Jones, Helen Klonaris, Sharon Leach, Jan Shinebourne, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw and N.D. Williams.
£16.99
Birlinn General Simple Fire: Selected Short Stories
Book SynopsisGeorge Mackay Brown was a master of the short story form and produced a steady stream of short fiction collections, starting with A Calendar of Love (1967) and include A Time to Keep (1969) and Hawkfall (1974), as well as his poetry collections and novels. In this selection, edited and introduced by Malachy Tallack, we explore the author’s Orkney and the ups and downs of the crofters and fishermen there. These magical stories, drawn from ancient lore and modern life, strip life down to the essentials.Trade Review'New editions of his poetry and short stories, published to mark his centenary, show his spirituality and extraordinary gift for 'involved detachment'' * The Spectator *'Malachy Tallack and Kathleen Jamie do an excellent job in editing these collections for the centenary of MacKay Brown's birth. They choose both poems and stories that show the appeal and strength of his writing' -- Donald Murray * Stornoway Gazette *'Tallack writes beautifully about living on the edge of the world; he understands islands, the way they are silent and also impossibly loud and full. He comes at Brown with real empathy. … For newcomers to George this collection is a good introduction' -- Morag Macinnes * The Tablet *
£12.34
Birlinn General Pianos and Flowers: Brief Encounters of the
Book SynopsisIn Pianos and Flowers we are invited to glimpse a world long departed. In these stories, inspired by long-lost photographs, the lives of the people in the frame are imagined and then explored, layer by layer. Three sisters brought up in Penang, caught in the tide of war. A group of small boys in a Glasgow slum – their childhood blighted by poverty, their adult lives taking very different paths. A young woman’s search for love in the unlikely realm of Egyptian antiquities. And through all of these photographs, and all of these stories, there runs the same refrain: the possibilities of love, of friendship, of happiness lie before us. Trade Review'McCall Smith’s expert handling of conflict and rich imagination make this one his fans will enjoy' * Publisher's Weekly *'The beloved author invites us to glimpse a world long departed... from Glasgow slums to Egyptian relics, love, friendship and happiness are the central themes' * Scots Magazine *'A picture paints a thousand words ... this book demonstrates the imagination and skill of McCall Smith to be able to create personal stories from something as simple as a photograph' * Dundee Courier, Scottish Book of the Week *'A delightful compendium of short stories' * Edinburgh Life *
£8.54
Birlinn General Dark Encounters: A Collection of Ghost Stories
Book SynopsisTales of suspense for the twilight hour... Dark Encounters is a collection of classic and elegantly unsettling ghost stories. A spine-tingling collection, these tales are set in the brooding landscape of Scotland, with an air of historic authenticity – often referring to real events, objects and people. From a demonic text that leaves its readers strangled to the murderous spectre of a feudal baron, this is a crucial addition to the long and distinguished cannon of Scottish ghost stories. For those who seek out the unnerving, the unknown and the unexplainable, Dark Encounters is guaranteed to raise the hair on the back of your neck. This edition features a rare story – 'The MacGregor Skull' – which was the last story every written by the author and posthumously serialised in the Scotsman in 1963.Trade Review'Superbly entertaining, the perfect read for Scotland's long dark winter evenings' -- Ken Lussey * Undiscovered Scotland *'A really atmospheric book. Best set aside for a cold, dark winter’s evening in front of a roaring log fire!' * Women Together *'A great mood setter for anyone relishing the approach of Halloween' * Inverness Courier *'Like most really good ghost stories, there is an element of fact or historical myth surrounding it to make the tale that much more authentic. The author also has the knack of keeping the reader hanging on his words to try and find out what was the cause of the tale' * Army Rumours *'Croft Dickinson draws on true stories and real people, and has a nicely understated writing style' * Scottish Field *
£11.40
Granta Books The Collected Tales Of Nikolai Gogol
Book SynopsisCollected here are Gogol's finest tales - from the demon-haunted 'St John's Eve' to the strange surrealism of 'The Nose', from the heart-rending trials of the copyist in 'The Overcoat' to those of the delusional clerk in 'The Diary of a Madman' - allowing readers to experience anew the unmistakable genius of a writer who paved the way for Dostoevsky and Kafka. To this superb new translation - the first in twenty-five years and destined to become the definitive edition of Gogol's short fiction - Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky bring the same clarity and fidelity to the original that they brought to their brilliant translation of Dostoevsky's works and to War and Peace.Trade ReviewGogol's occasional weirdness is just as weird today, of such a strange order of invention, that even a word like "exuberant" doesn't begin to cover it ... Gogol is strangely timeless -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *This was, for me, an electric introduction to Russian literature. -- AD Miller * The Independent *Nabokov was right about Gogol's greatness, and right to point out that he was a creator of a new reality -- A.S. ByattGogol's narratives take on a compelling logic of their own and the details are by turn comic, sinister, and even touching ... Gogol doesn't ignore the conventions of realism, but, rather, jumbles them up, as in a dream. His stories build their hilarious fantasies on solid observational foundations -- Edmund Gordon * Observer *One of the most unfathomable minds and most spellbinding narrators in literary history. Shrewd observer, Romantic dreamer, idiot savant, parodist, or a comic Dante, Gogol still eludes all categories -- Donald Rayfield * Literary Review *The "father of Russian Modernism" came to fame very early which possibly burned him out, as he wrote little in the last 10 years of his life. His tales might have been written weeks ago though, so fresh and vibrant are they, a testament to the youth of their author when he wrote them -- Lesley McDowell * Sunday Herald *Such is Gogol's all-pervasive influence on European writing that both of these new editions are great value -- Eileen Battersby, Books of the Year * Irish Times *
£11.69
Quercus Publishing The Female of the Species
Book SynopsisA dark collection from one of America's literary giants.A young wife is home alone when the phone rings in 'So Help Me God.' Is the strange voice flirting with her from the other end of the line her jealous husband laying a trap, or a stranger who knows entirely too much about her? In 'Madison at Guignol' an unhappy fashionista discovers a secret door inside her favourite clothing store and insists the staff let her enter. But even her fevered imagination cannot anticipate the horror they have been hiding from her. In these and other gripping and disturbing tales, women are confronted by the evil around them and surprised by the evil they find within themselves. With wicked insight, Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates why the females of the species - be they six-year-old girls, seemingly devoted wives, or aging mothers - are by nature more deadly than the males.Trade Review“Chilling, but irresistible.” Dublin Evening Herald * Dublin Evening Herald *Oates excels at detailing the complexities of the female psyche, especially at times of crisis … there is nothing ordinary about the way she writes.” Glasgow Sunday Herald * Glasgow Sunday Herald *“This fine collection proves as incisive and moving as her longer fiction”. Scotland on Sunday * Scotland on Sunday *Table of ContentsSo Help Me God The Banshee Doll: A Romance of the Mississippi Madison at Guignol The Haunting Hunger Tell Me You Forgive Me? Angel of Wrath Angel of Mercy
£9.49
Alma Books Ltd All The Sad Young Men
Book SynopsisPublished a year after The Great Gatsby, this short-story collection showcases many of the celebrated novel’s themes, as well as its unique writing style. Two of the most famous tales, the beautifully elegiac ‘The Rich Boy’ and ‘Winter Dreams’, deal with wealthy protagonists – the old-money Anson Hunter and the self-made man Dexter Green – as they come to terms with lost love, while ‘Absolution’, in which a boy confesses to a priest, was initially written as a background piece to The Great Gatsby. Also containing ‘The Baby Party’, ‘Rags Martin-Jones and the Pr–nce of W–les’, ‘The Adjuster’, ‘Hot and Cold Blood’, ‘The Sensible Thing’ and ‘Gretchen’s Forty Winks’ – all of which describe in various ways the 1920s society that Fitzgerald himself inhabited – All the Sad Young Men is a masterpiece of twentieth-century American fiction.Trade ReviewHe was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a generation. * The New York Times *Table of ContentsContains: The Rich Boy, Winter Dreams, Absolution, The Baby Party, Rags Martin-Jones and the Prince of Wales, The Adjuster, Hot and Cold Blood, The Sensible Thing, Gretchen's Forty Winks.
£7.59
Alma Books Ltd Tales of Twilight and the Unseen
Book SynopsisA master of many literary genres, Arthur Conan Doyle excelled particularly in the short-story form, and was acclaimed in his day as much for his detective stories as for his thrilling tales of mystery and the supernatural. While the adventures of Sherlock Holmes have become part of our collective imagination, these stories - concerned with ghosts, obscure scientific experiments and other unexplained phenomena - are now unjustly neglected.Trade Review"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact." - Arthur Conan DoyleTable of ContentsContains: The Brown Hand, The Usher of Lea House School, B.24, The Great Keinplatz Experiment, Cyprian Overbeck Wells, Playing with Fire, The Ring of Thoth, The Los Amigos Fiasco, How it Happened, Lot No. 249, De Profundis, The Lift.
£7.59
