Anthologies & Short Stories

Book SynopsisA young woman delves into the circumstances of her mother’s death ahead of her own marriage, interrogating a woman who witnessed her mother’s death and would later come to play a crucial role in her life. An exploration of the human (in)capacity for (self-)deception and knowledge, the story offers a nuanced portrait of contemporary (Korean) social mores. As with all Cheon’s work to date this beautifully crafted story places women at its core, and explores form and genre (in this case epistolatory) while subtly weaving into the text a deep interrogation of social issues.

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Book SynopsisA retired wrestler struggles with amnesia and anxiety after he is invited to return to his home town for an event. Back in once-familiar surroundings, he wrestles to make sense of things as he is confronted by faces, scenes and smells recalled from a celebrated past.

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Book SynopsisA poet reflects on the lives of the different generations of women around her as she contemplates her own divorce from a socially-engaged photographer; her feelings are complicated by the ethics of public/private, art/life divisions, as well as the country’s contemporary history. The story reveals the raw complexity of gender dynamics in a society still hobbled by the demands forced on its people through war and ideology and rapid modernization; it is a good reminder of the different feminisms that do and must exist.

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Book SynopsisThe story takes place on a stairwell, all in about a minute’s time, while the narrator’s partner seizes her by the hair. The narrator had gotten caught, after running out of the apartment to try to escape assault. While she tries desperately to avoid falling down the stairs, she has a series of flashbacks about a friend who committed suicide years earlier. In this brief moment, she searches her memories for any signs she may have missed, and feels guilt for not having finished writing his story.

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Book Synopsis'A daring collection written in response to lockdown' Alison MacLeod 'A collection that reminds us what it is to be human. A book for right now' , Angela Readman '18 well-chosen stories, loosely based on the idea of solitude, explore loss, loneliness and love,'DAILY MAIL Brilliantly funny, terrifying, tender and sharp: the best short stories to come out of lockdown.Trade Review'A daring collection written in response to lockdown' ALISON MACLEOD 'A collection that reminds us what it is to be human. A book for right now' ANGELA READMAN '18 well-chosen stories, loosely based on the idea of solitude, explore loss, loneliness and love' DAILY MAIL

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Book SynopsisThe much-anticipated fiction follow-up to Vertigo, this collection cements Joanna Walsh's reputation as one of the sharpest writers of this century. Wearing her learning lightly, Walsh's stories make us see the world afresh while showing us she has read the world. In 'Like a Fish Needs a ...' - perhaps the funniest, most freewheeling story ever written about cycling (and Freud and and and ...) you read shenanigans worthy of Flann O'Brien. Meanwhile, in 'Worlds from the Word's End', Walsh conjures up a country in which words themselves fall out of fashion - something that will never happen wherever Walsh is read.Trade Review'Joanna Walsh is fast becoming one of our most important writers.' Deborah Levy-----------'Walsh's writing has intellectual rigour and bags of formal bravery.' Melissa Harrison, Financial Times------------'Haunting and unforgettable stories.' Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick----------'Profoundly affecting.' Alex Preston, Best Books of 2016, The Guardian----------'Beautifully simple and unembellished.' Claire Hazelton, The Guardian----------'Beautifully wrought.' Cathy Rentzenbrink, Stylist----------'Intriguing, one I return to and discover more layers in each time.' Elizabeth Reapy, Irish Times Books of the Year----------'By turns funny, surreal, modernist, remaining at all times accessible.' Sarah Gilmartin, Irish Times----------'A genuinely original collection, sharp and sparse.' Mike McCormack, Irish Independent----------'Walsh is a sublimely elegant writer.' Sarah Ditum, New Statesman----------'Splendidly wry and offbeat ... both intellectual and aware.' Lesley McDowell, Sunday Herald----------'Indefinable.' Big Issue North----------'Think Renata Adler's Speedboat with a faster engine.' Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times----------'Her stories reveal a psychological landscape lightly spooked by loneliness, jealousy and alienation.' Heidi Julavits, New York Times----------'Vertigo is a funny, absurd collection of stories.' Maddie Crum, The Huffington Post----------'Her writing sways between the tense and the absurd.' Jonathon Sturgeon, Flavorwire----------'A feat of language.' Kirkus, Starred Review----------'Walsh is an inventive, honest writer.' Publishers Weekly----------'This collection makes the familiar alien, breaking down and remaking quotidian situations, and in the process turning them into gripping literature.' Vol. 1 Brooklyn----------'Moments of blazing perspicacity, creativity, intelligence, and dark humour are insanely abundant in [Walsh's] writing.' Natalie Helberg, Numero Cinq----------'Vertigo is a writer's coup, an overthrow of everyday language.' Darcie Dennigan, The Rumpus

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Book SynopsisWith Pure Hollywood, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Christine Schutt returns to the short story form that launched her acclaimed career. In tales of rare wit, Pure Hollywood brings us into private worlds of longing and danger. An alcoholic actress takes her children to live in 'a rusted box on stilts' in the desert. In an exclusive island resort, a young family's holiday has terrible consequences. A newly-wed couple who, while still 'newly everything', fall in with a misanthropic painter burned by love. 'On the beach, they agreed, their daydreaming was sometimes dangerous.' Schutt's sharply suspenseful and masterfully dark interior portraits of ordinary lives are shot through with surprise and, as Ottessa Moshfegh has it, 'exquisitely weird writing'.Trade Review'Christine Schutt is one of my shining lighthouses. I love her work with passion. Please read her new book, Pure Hollywood.' Lauren Groff`A truly gifted writer.' George Saunders`Pared down but rich, dense, fevered, exactly right and eerily beautiful' John Ashbery `Pure Hollywood is pure gold. In tales of rare wit and verve, Christine Schutt leads us into the lives of her perfectly drawn characters - couples young and old, children, skinny men, charming women - and dances on masterful prose through gardens, alcohol (often too much), luxurious homes, and resort vacation spots. Come for the art of her exquisitely weird writing and stay for the human drama.' Ottesa Moshfegh `Christine Schutt is already easily among the liveliest stylists of our time, and these eleven stories prove we ain't seen nothing yet. Each is a wonder, pickled in her crystalline idiom and cured under her brutal, astonishing wit.'Claire Vaye Watkins `With terse sentences that read like poetry, Schutt strips each scene of excess context and cuts to the heart of the moment . . . Schutt's haunting yet lyrical words linger long after the final page.' Los Angeles Times `Shot through with Woolf's lyrical, restless spirit.' New York Times Book Review `Her sentences never waste a phrase or even a word.' Washington Post`The stories in this collection evade easy capture – but in reading, isn’t the pursuit part of the pleasure? Schutt’s style – in which words crash together musically, the focus shifts and dialogue seems to take even the characters by surprise – means that the qualities come out best on a slow rereading.’ John Self, The Guardian

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Book SynopsisIt's the 1950s, and Lorrie is unimpressed when her family moves to the remote Scottish island where her grandad runs a whisky distillery. She befriends Sylvie, the shy girl next door: `The slightest smile from Sylvie was a fluffy elephant at the fair. It had to be won with a clear aim,' writes Lorrie. Yet fun-loving Lorrie isn't sure Sylvie's is the friendship she wants to win. As the adults around them struggle to keep their lives on an even keel, the two young women are drawn into a series of events that leave the small town wondering who exactly Sylvie is and what strange gift she is hiding.Readman's feel for emotional nuance and flair for mixing strangeness with poignant detail make this long-awaited debut novel one to savour.Trade Review'Angela Readman's stories are fantastic, delightful gifts.' Toby Litt, author of Hospital and one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists ----'Angela Readman's prose exhibits two complimentary styles: fabulation is rendered deadpan, while wonderfully inventive similes are used to describe the everyday. Borges, Kafka and Angela Carter will all be reference points, but there is something joyfully distinctive about Readman's voice.' Toby Lichtig, Sunday Telegraph ----'Readman writes with precision. Her stories emit suppressed yearning and she makes poignant comments about loneliness, identity, survival. Angela Carter is an obvious influence but fans of Donald Barthelme and Charles Baudelaire will cherish the emergence of a moral absurdist for our times.' Max Liu, The Independent----'A masterclass in the surreal ...This slim volume shows why she won the Costa Short Story Award.' Max Wallis, 10 Best Spring Reads, The Independent----`Sparky, shining writing that zings from the page. Subversive, funny and incisive. A real talent.' Sarah Hilary, author of Someone Else's Skin ----`Readman's narrative has an essential deadpan charm, dotted with striking, sideways observations. The story lends itself to multiple layers of interpretation and metaphor-the limits of friendship; mythmaking; the unavoidable exploration of self. An offbeat, enigmatic parable of otherness and attachment, with a style to match.' Kirkus Reviews ----`Readman weaves a fascinating and decidedly original fairytale.' - Lucy Scholes, Financial Times ----`This is a significant book that belongs to and will endure this time of change for women, it is a love story about the way women love one another...This is a book made with a scalpel: precise cuts, made by a skilled hand, for the sake of healing.' - Carmen Marcus ----`Beautifully bittersweet, this first novel is a rich evocation of youth and a joyous celebration of individuality.' - Star Tribune ---- 'Readman's strength lies ... in capturing that teenage state of in-betweenness.' - Francesca Carington, Daily Telegraph ----'From the wilderness of the setting to seminal moments in the girls' friendship, Readman captures her subjects with ease and clarity. Something Like Breathing is a charming debut whose young voices beguile from the beginning and impart their lessons with a light touch along the way.' - Sarah Gilmartin, Irish Times ---- `Something Like Breathing is an auspicious work from a writer unusually skilled with language and subtext. It's a sad, serious, beautiful novel worth diving into head first.' Katharine Coldiron, The Guardian ----'Something Like Breathing does many things very well. Readman's prose is lithe and sparkling, glinting like the sea around the girls' island home. She skilfully evokes the minutiae of daily life , the subtly changing landscapes of human relationships , the strength and fragility of teenaged friendship, and the various small violences enacted on individuals - particularly women - though the vigorous policing of social norms.. But it is Readman's exploration of the politics of difference, of strangeness, that propels the novel to its bittersweet finish,, which, like first kisses and last ones, lingers long after its final touch.' Marion Rankine, Brixton Review of Books ----`Angela Readman, a poet and award- winning short-story writer, is exceptionally good both at capturing voices and at rendering the shades of love and envy that can surround a friendship. [...] Readman tells a story of the violence that can exist in a family or a town, how difference and proximity are understood and respected, and how one self might try to capture another. Gentle and provocative by turns, Something Like Breathing asks good questions about the ways we might feel for someone, without consuming them.’ Sophie Ratcliffe, The Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisWalking on Cowrie Shells focuses on the lives of hyphenated-Americans with a multi-cultural heritage in the United States and Africa. The book spans genres – literary realism, horror, mystery, YA, science fiction – and features complex, fully-embodied characters: tongue-tied linguistic anthropologists, comic book enthusiasts and even water goddesses. The author hopes her stories entertain readers while also offering them a counterpoint to prevalent “heart of darkness” writing that too often depicts a singular “African” experience plagued by locusts, hunger, and tribal in-fighting. Trade Review‘Nkweti’s lyrical linguistic choices aptly charm the tongue and help to deliver a performance, which is fitting for this collection of stories, because they all fizzle across genre and cultural boundaries.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdx6Q3IAl7p/?hl=en -- @taslima * Instagram *‘I loved Kweti’s nuanced insights.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/CcjKvKCL9dt/?hl=en -- @barrettbookreviews * Instagram *‘The world needs more books like this which hold a sharp yet empathetic torch to the Black experience.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/CcIu0CDq0zK/?hl=en -- @canreadwillread * Instagram *What to read when 2021 is just around the corner ‘In her powerful, genre-bending debut story collection, Nana Nkweti mixes deft realism with clever inversions of genre.’ https://therumpus.net/2020/12/what-to-read-when-2021-is-just-around-the-corner/ * The Rumpus *Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2021 Book Preview ‘This dazzler of a debut shines a spotlight on lives that bridge the divide between the cultures of Cameroon and America.’ https://themillions.com/2021/01/most-anticipated-the-great-first-half-2021-book-preview.html * The Millions *Starred review ‘Boisterous and high-spirited debut stories by a talented new writer.’ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nana-nkweti/walking-on-cowrie-shells/ * Kirkus Reviews *‘This is a groundbreaking and vital work.’ Starred Review https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781644450543 * Publisher's Weekly *May/June 2021 issue ‘A vivacious collection with sentences that sizzle on the page. . . . Nkweti’s book is sharp and gorgeous.’ * Women's Review of Books *Nana Nkweti’s Walking on Cowrie Shells Offers Diverse and Complex Story-worlds ‘Nkweti’s writing is a gem. Funny and loaded with turns of phrases, it incites chuckles and some laughs but also tears and wonder.’ https://brittlepaper.com/2021/05/nana-nkwetis-walking-on-cowrie-shells-offers-diverse-and-complex-story-worlds/ -- Ainehi Edoro * Brittle Paper *Exerpt: The Statistician’s Wife https://www.afreada.com/stories/the-statisticians-wife * Afreada *10 Debut Books to Read This June Everything Nkweti does feels completely refreshing as she twists and turns the expectations of what a short story can be. https://debutiful.net/2021/06/01/10-debut-books-to-read-this-june/ * Debutiful *Starred Review: Walking on Cowrie Shells ‘a cluster of 10 dazzling stories that are as diverse as they are vibrant.’ https://bookpage.com/reviews/26294-nana-nkweti-walking-cowrie-shells-fiction#.YJPdiy9Q0UG -- Matthew jackson * Bookpage *10 Short Story Collections to Read This Summer: For Short Trips and Taking Sips ‘acrobatic and delightful prose’ https://lithub.com/10-short-story-collections-to-read-this-summer/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20June%203%2C%202021&utm_term=lithub_master_list -- Kerri Arsenault * Literary Hub *20 Best New Books of June 2021 https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/g36518074/best-new-books-june-2021/?utm_campaign=socialflowTWOPR&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=twitter * Oprah Daily *These Stories Dance Deftly Between America And Cameroon ‘WALKING ON COWRIE SHELLS is a terrific read, each story different and varied from the one before. Nkweti has proven herself a bright new star.’ https://www.npr.org/2021/06/07/1003380153/these-stories-dance-deftly-between-america-and-cameroon -- Martha Anne Toll * NPR *Briefly Noted ‘Lively and fast-paced, funny and tragic, these stories refuse a singular African experience in favor of a vivid plurality.’ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/14/phase-six-walking-on-cowrie-shells-the-house-of-fragile-things-and-there-plant-eyes * The New Yorker *Review: Nana Nkweti’s Tales of Cameroonians at Home and in America https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/books/review/walking-on-cowrie-shells-nana-nkweti.html -- Deesha Philvaw * The New York Times *Review: Walking on Cowrie Shells by Nana Nkweti ‘The complexity, ambition, variety – it’s a debut collection that sings from the page, story after story.’ https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/book-reviews/walking-on-cowrie-shells-by-nana-nkweti -- Heather McDaid * The skinny *‘What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in June’ ‘It’s rare to read such a wide-ranging collection, especially one this short. Nkweti jumps from genre to genre as if bored with perfecting them, from horror to sci-fi, YA to mythical romance.’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/30/what-were-reading-writers-and-readers-on-the-books-they-enjoyed-in-june?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks -- Gurnaik Johal * The Guardian *‘With all these familiar horrors, who in the hell was going to believe in zombies?’—An excerpt from Nana Nkweti’s debut Walking on Cowrie Shells https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2023/02/17/with-all-these-familiar-horrors-who-in-the-hell-was-going-to-believe-in-zombies-read-an-excerpt-from-nana-nkwetis-debut-short-story-collection-walking-on-cowrie-sh/ * The Johannesburg Review *

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Book SynopsisTwo schoolgirls in Bolton take acid just before their English class. A film journalist shares tea and a Kitkat with Marcel Proust, more or less, during a long train journey. An afterparty turns into a crime scene. Colleagues, maybe in love, have lunch and don’t quite talk about their relationship. A woman flees to New Orleans and finds unexpected treasures there. In her electric debut, Anna Wood skips through the decades of a woman’s life, meeting friends, lovers, shapeshifters and doppelgängers along the way. Delights and regrets pile up, time becomes non-linear, characters stumble and shimmy through moments of rupture, horror and joy. Written with warmth, wit and swagger, these stories glide from acutely observed comic dialogue to giddy surrealism and quiet heartbreak, and always there is music – pop songs as tiny portals into another world. Yes Yes More More is packed with friendship, memory, pleasure and love.Trade ReviewThoughts, connected, on Mayday https://www.thesocial.com/thoughts-connected-on-mayday-by-anna-wood/ -- Anna WoodBumper Christmas Issue Featured in ‘New Year’s Read-olutions: What we’re looking forward to in 2021’ * The Indie Insider Newsletter *‘This!! Book!! It makes me ache. I ache for nights out and hangovers and weddings and holidays, I ache for pubs and New Orleans and swimming in the pond.’ https://twitter.com/alicemjslater/status/1348756457932660739 -- Alice Slater * Twitter *‘An ode to being alive & the sometimes painful beauty of the world, immerses you in a stream of brilliant shining moments, carries you effortlessly on its flow. I’m in awe.’ https://twitter.com/Catrionaward/status/1349328073213308928 -- Catriona Ward * Twitter *‘The writing is sharp and funny and the dialogue is relatable and genuine. I just couldn’t stop reading and ended up finishing the last story in a stone cold bath! I can’t recommend this collection enough.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/CKG4_YZgRb5/ -- @bookishchat * Instagram *‘Amazing and brilliant’ https://twitter.com/TedKessler1/status/1352577170967822337/photo/1 -- Ted Kessler * Twitter *‘Really really brilliant’, ‘filled with vitality’, ‘we love it’ Stay Indoors and Read: Episode 4 https://edmcdonaldwriting.com/stay-indoors-and-read/ -- Ed Mcdonald and Catriona Ward * Stay Indoors and Read (vlog) *Rough Trade Book Club with Leone Ross and Anna Wood https://www.mixcloud.com/sohoradio/rough-trade-book-club-04052021/ * Soho Radio *Review: Yes Yes More More by Anna Wood (2021) ‘The writing is dazzling – so sharp and fresh and vivid – every sentence zings with truth.’ https://elspells.home.blog/2021/05/06/review-yes-yes-more-more-by-anna-wood-2021/ * Elspells *Review: Yes Yes More More ‘Days of glory, joy and happiness is a fair description of most of Yes Yes More More.’ https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/102954-2/ -- Alex Diggins * 3AM Magazine *Review: Yes Yes More More by Anna Wood ‘This is a book about what it takes to be alive, a field guide to living life as well as we possibly can, while we can.’ https://lunate.co.uk/reviews/yes-yes-more-more-by-anna-wood -- Gary Kaill * Lunate *Anna Wood’s Yes Yes More More: Stories of Pleasure and Friendship ‘Published by The Indigo Press, Wood’s debut is a comical, heart-warming and introspective example of masterful short fiction’ https://nrthlass.com/2021/05/31/anna-woods-yes-yes-more-more-stories-of-pleasure-and-friendship/ -- Beth Barker * NRTH LASS *10 reasons to love Yes Yes More More https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2021/06/10-reasons-to-love-yes-yes-more-more/ -- Wndy erskine * Caught By The River *Review | Yes Yes More More by Anna Wood ‘After being deprived of these things for so long, many of us are realising just how precious they are as we creep back to normality. Yes Yes More More, already a trove of joy and feeling, therefore comes to us at a time when we are even more capable of appreciating it.’ https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/review-yes-yes-more-more-by-anna-wood/ -- Alys Key * The London Magazine *The best books of 2021 so far: Novels, memoirs, short stories and more https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-best-books-of-2021-so-far-novels-memoirs-short-stories-and-more-1.4596346 -- Wendy Erskine * The Irish Times *The good life: Delight, indulgence and grit in Anna Wood’s Yes Yes More More ‘Fifteen immensely nourishing stories that shimmer with thrills, fun and pleasure, each one a chomping bite of everything good about life.’ https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/yes-yes-more-more-anna-wood-book-review-alice-ash/ -- Alice Ash * The Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisShimmering writing depicting California’s Central Valley, the first book in a decade from a virtuoso story writer. These exquisite stories are mostly set in the 1980s in the small towns that surround Fresno. With an unflinching hand, Muñoz depicts the Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers who put food on our tables but were regularly and ruthlessly rounded up by the migra, as well as the quotidian struggles and immense challenges faced by their families. The messy and sometimes violent realities navigated by his characters—straight and gay, immigrant and American-born, young and old—are tempered by moments of surprising, tender care: Two young women meet on a bus to Los Angeles to retrieve the men they love who must find their way back from the border after being deported; a gay couple plans a housewarming party that reveals buried class tensions; a teenage mother slips out to a carnival where she encounters the father of her child; the foreman of a crew of fruit pickers finds a dead body and is subsequently—perhaps literally— haunted. In The Consequences, obligation can shape, support, and sometimes derail us. It’s a magnificent new book from a gifted writer at the height of his powers.Trade Review‘I can't stop thinking about this read...Melancholic? Yes. Moving? Very. Powerful writing. https://twitter.com/bobsandbooks/status/1583097695413350401 -- Emma Hardy @bobsandbooks * Twitter *‘This is a gorgeously poetic story collection that maintains literary elegance without shying away from the realities faced by the characters.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/ChZCgarAzWi/?hl=en -- @brionyisreading * Instagram *‘Packs a big punch for its tiny frame. There is so much, just so much, captured in these pages.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/CjtFdHeLWlT/?hl=en -- @tirlersbookstuff * Instagram *‘I love a short story collection and The Consequences, the first book in a decade from Manuel Muñoz, is no exception.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj-G-o3sRJz/?hl=en -- Queerly Books (@queerly.books) * Instagram *Ten books by Latino authors you should be reading, according to Sandra Cisneros ‘Haunting, powerful, humble, precise, this collection shook my being’ https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books-latinx-authors-sandra-cisneros-b2070820.html -- Sandra Cisneros * The Independent *Starred Review : The Consequences ‘This packs a hell of a punch.’ https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-64445-206-6 * Publisher's Weekly *Starred Review: The Consequences by Manuel Munoz ‘Nuanced, thoughtful, often moving stories.’ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/manuel-munoz/the-consequences-munoz/ * Kirkus *Manuel Muñoz’s stories capture a Central Valley you’ve never seen ‘Lucid and elegantly written’ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2022-08-26/manuel-munoz-elegant-short-story-collection-consequences-fall-arts-preview-2022 -- Carolina A. Miranda * Los Angeles Times *Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with These 18 Must-Read Books by Latinx Authors ‘The book out-Steinbecks Steinbeck in its manifestation of the human in places we too rarely dare look.’ https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/g41244880/hispanic-heritage-month-books-latinx-authors/ -- Ernesto Mestre-Reed * Oprah Daily *The Consequences of Story: A Conversation with Manuel Muñoz ‘Writer Helena María Viramontes says ‘with The Consequences, [Munoz] has hit a stride of confident, quiet authority.’’ https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/interviews/consequences-story-conversation-manuel-munoz-renee-h-shea -- Renee H Shea * World Literature Today *What it’s worth giving up to stay in a family ‘]Munoz] dilates or constricts the eye to expand and sharpen our view of these lives so often unseen. Truly, it takes a master seer to reveal these moments of intimacy sometimes so dearly guarded they are unknown even to their keeper.’ https://electricliterature.com/compromisos-by-manuel-munoz/?utm_source=Electric+Literature%27s+eNewsletter -- Carribean Fragoza * Electric Lit *Encounters with Spirit: An Interview with Sandra Cisneros ‘The admiration I have for you is how you’re able to transcend your body as a male and as a Latino, and just be pure spirit, your pure spirit, and enter into all your characters.’ https://orionmagazine.org/article/sandra-cisneros-manuel-munoz-interview/ -- Sandra Cisneros & Manuel Muñoz * Orion Magazine *The Consequences by Manuel Muñoz - Book Review ‘Manuel Muñoz's short stories of migrant farmers in 1980s California paint the American Dream as bleak, cruel and crushing’ https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/book-reviews/the-consequences-by-manuel-munoz -- Andres Ordica * The Skinny *A very new story, from a great contemporary writer. ‘The sentences are beautiful but quiet; the tension slowly builds; it elicits every drop of sympathy I have in me; it surprises me every time.’ https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/a-special-treat https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/anyone-can-do-it-367 -- George sanders * Story Club *The Consequences: Stories by Manuel Muñoz ‘The Consequences is a collection of many threads, stories, memories, and choices. […] Mostly there is the challenge of what it is to relate to others, and beautiful observances of the nuances of relationships, whether between lovers, parents and children, neighbours, and strangers.’ https://www.lunate.co.uk/reviews/the-consequences-stories-by-manuel-munoz -- Jess Moody * Lunate *Yearning, love and regret at the heart of standout stories set in Central Valley ‘The entire book reverberates with longing and just-under-the-rim sadness that captures the heart and doesn’t let go.’ -- Alexis Burling * San Francisco Chronicle Review *Yearning, love and regret at the heart of standout stories set in Central Valley ‘The entire book reverberates with longing and just-under-the-rim sadness that captures the heart and doesn’t let go.’ -- Alexis Burling * San Francisco Chronicle Review *Inside Out: The characters in Manuel Muñoz’s The Consequences are hesitant to reveal too much. https://www.altaonline.com/books/fiction/a41958052/manuel-munoz-consequences-book-review-heather-scott-partington/ -- Heather Scott Partington * Alta *Story Collections That Ask: ‘How Did I Get Here?’ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/books/review/the-islands-dionne-irving-the-consequences-miguel-munoz-you-have-reached-your-destination-louise-marburg.html * The New Tork Times *‘It’s hard to imagine a more gorgeous collection of short fiction than the latest book from Arizona-based author Manuel Muñoz . . . This is one of the best short story collections to come around in recent years.’ https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#year=2022&book=329 -- Michael Schaub * NPR *Books of the Year https://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/books-of-the-year-2023/ -- David Hayden * The White Review *Electric Lit’s Favorite Short Story Collections of 2022 https://electricliterature.com/electric-lits-favorite-short-story-collections-of-2022/ * Electric Lit *'The awards that the individual stories have collected along their journey into this admirable but gritty collection reveal a considerable talent.' https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-article/what-we-re-reading--27-january-2023/ -- David Roche * BookBrunch *Manuel Muñoz on the Power of LGBTQ Characters https://glreview.org/manuel-munoz-on-the-power-of-lgbtq-characters/ -- Neil Ellis Orts * The Gay & Lesbian Review *‘Aspen Words Literary Prize finalist Manuel Muñoz channels stories of California's Central Valley’ https://www.aspenpublicradio.org/arts-culture/2023-04-13/aspen-words-literary-prize-finalist-manuel-munoz-channels-stories-of-californias-central-valley -- Kaya Williams * Aspen Public Radio *

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2019, The Republic of Consciousness Prize 2019 and The People's Book Prize 2018. 'Enjoyable to read' - Dolly Alderton, The High Low. When Alina's brother-in-law defects to the West, she and her husband become persons of interest to the secret services, causing both of their careers to come grinding to a halt. As the strain takes its toll on their marriage, Alina turns to her aunt for help - the wife of a communist leader and a secret practitioner of the old folk ways. Set in 1970s communist Romania, this novella-in-flash draws upon magic realism to weave a tale of everyday troubles that can't be put down. 'A story to savour, to smile at, to rage against and to weep over.' - Zoe Gilbert, author of 'Folk'Trade Review‘A story to savour, to smile at, to rage against and to weep over’ – Zoe Gilbert, author of Folk; ‘Sophie van Llewyn’s stunning debut novella shows us there is no dystopian fiction as frightening as that which draws on history’ —Christina Dalcher, author of 'VOX'; ‘A masterful blend of the political and the personal, the magical and the mundane, the historical and the hyperbolic' —Ingrid Jendrzejewski, editor-in-chief of FlashBack Fiction; ‘This is an impressive debut in the tradition of Eastern European Absurdist fiction’ —Jude Higgins, Bath Flash Fiction Award organiser; ‘Sophie van Llewyn has brought light into an era which cast a long shadow’ —Joanna Campbell, author of When Planets Slip Their Tracks; ‘The uncertainties of life and love, and the insatiable quest for freedom – bottled neatly in a set of stories that captivate and enchant’ —Michelle Elvy, coordinator of New Zealand’s Flash Fiction Day and Bath Flash Fiction Award judge; ‘A tour de force, a harrowing and ultimately triumphant story, a must-read by a masterful writer’ —Christopher Allen, author of 'Other Household Toxins'; ‘A dizzying, daring window on life in Ceausescu’s Romania’ —Stephanie Hutton, author of 'Three Sisters of Stone'; ‘A lucid and powerfully affecting story’ —Helen Rye, winner of the Bath Flash Fiction Award; ‘This stunning historical novella […] is both tense and atmospheric’ —Mslexia; 'The prose is tight, witty, vivid and atmospheric […] Every word on the page pulls its weight’ —Litro; ‘Van Llewyn’s use of language is hypnotic and the worlds she creates stark and grotesque, calling to mind Shirley Jackson or Muriel Spark’ —Smokelong magazine

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Book SynopsisFrom award-winning author Lynda Clark come sixteen engrossing stories weaving together elements of folklore, fantasy and speculative fiction, all of them in Clark's darkly humorous style. In 'Ghillie's Mum', shortlisted for the BBC Short Story Award, a shape-shifting mother needs to decide whether to compromise and stay in her human form, or lose her son. In 'Total Transparency', a man is learning how to live with a gradually disappearing wife. In 'Blanks', people are paying to create clones of themselves so they will never die. And in 'Dreaming in Quantum', there's a murder to be solved which echoes through dimensions only accessible in dreams.Trade Review'In these high-concept horrors, even the strangest perversions of science and biology can feel sadly familiar, hinting at the fantasies we tell ourselves to explain, or run away from, the darkest moments of our lives' -Nick Mulgrew, author of 'A Hibiscus Coast'; 'Lynda Clark's stories are thought-provoking, very funny, sometimes poignant, and always entertaining, with a whole Buffyverse-worth of plotlines and nice, fat, satisfying endings' -Jo Lloyd, winner of the BBC National Short Story Award 2019; 'This consummate collection turns the normal strange and the strange normal: it is sublime weird writing, by turns compelling, arresting, amusing and unnerving' -Will Forrester, English PEN; 'Clark's playful narratives take us to the edges of what it is to be human' -Alison Kelly, TLS

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Book SynopsisFrom flash fiction to mini-novelette, Fairlight presents twenty-four of its best short stories from some of the world's most talented new and emerging English language writers. Chosen from work sent to Fairlight over several years by writers around the globe, this anthology celebrates the art of the short story form: a vehicle with the power to delight, entertain or instantly transport the reader to another state, another world, another emotion. Twenty-four stories by twenty-four writers, including various award-winning short story authors, and Women's Prize-longlisted author Sophie van Llewyn.Trade Review'We at Fairlight have continually posted short stories online, every week, in support of our ethos, to promote the work of new and emerging writers. This has enabled us to build a network of authors, whose talent we have proudly advocated. We are so excited to share this array of their excellent work in a physical publication and to expand their readership.' - Louise Boland, CEO Fairlight Books; 'A pleasingly dizzying experience, leaping from one beautifully depicted life to another' —Lynda Clark, author of 'Beyond Kidding'; 'An intriguing collection, with fantastic range and depth' —Beth Underdown, author of 'The Witchfinder’s Sister'; 'This gem of an anthology has all the oddness, unsettling incidents, and questing souls that make good fiction so compelling' —'Nuala O’Connor, author of 'Joyride to Jupiter'; 'Vivid and diverse, this is an admirable and highly enjoyable collection of new voices' —J.S. Barnes author of 'Dracula's Child'

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Book SynopsisAward-winning stories that travel into the heart of the Singaporean-Malaysian diaspora, and ask what it means to be 'Asian'.

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Book SynopsisA collection of revelatory stories showing women trying to be themselves while clowning around for others.

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Book SynopsisWe like Jeff Goldblum. You like Jeff Goldblum. Helen McClory really likes Jeff Goldblum. The Goldblum Variations is a collection of flash fiction, stories and games on the one and only Jeff Goldblum as he, and alternate versions of himself, travels through the known (and unknown) universe in a mighty celebration of weird and wonderful Goldbluminess. Maybe he's cooking, maybe he's wearing a nice jumper, maybe he's reading this very book. The possibilities are endless. Treat yourself, because all that glitters is Goldblum.Trade ReviewMcClory turns in a crushingly excellent display of metatextual prowess that also manages to be uplifting and fun. The Goldblum Variations is the sweetest kind of adventure. - Pop Matters; Seriously, take a gamble on this book. It is a befitting celebration of a remarkable actor via a thought-provoking odyssey of make-believe from one of the most remarkable emerging literary talents the UK has to offer. - The Quietus

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Book SynopsisBeginning with a story of an ex sex-worker drifting through a rural town in South America, and ending with a young woman's sinister wedding night, Nash writes across the complications of working class women, rendering their desires with visceral prose and psychologically dissecting the fundamental root that threads her work: craving and the conflicts within.Trade Review"Nudes is a collection that feels multigenerational. It crawls across the soggy cigarette ash carpets of single wide America to upscale apartments and the discolored bathtubs of suicide motels. Elle Nash shows the ugly venal addictions of a post-last call society." Jake Blackwood (Twitter)

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Book SynopsisWith this collection of brutal and heart-wrenching stories, the Bosnian writer Faruk Sehic secured his reputation as one of the greatest writers to emerge from the region. A war veteran and a poet, Sehic combines beauty and horror to seduce and surprise the reader; Sehic literally describes the war through the gun sight of an AK-47. His book is brutal, naturalistic, honest and uncompromising; his characters kill and get killed, they rob corpses and homes, they get drunk and get into fights, they parade in front of a mirror wearing a uniform ripped off a dead soldier. There's drugs and alcohol in abundance, and they are--paradoxically--reason's last line of defense.Trade Review'Sehic has composed a humbling meditation on an existential conundrum that is central to collective and private trauma, but also to more ordinary human experience: how to keep the inner self whole in a world that will assault it in unimaginable ways.' Kapka Kassaova, The Guardian (on Quiet Flows the Una); "When I discovered Faruk Sehic, I didn't just see war in his work, I saw life in that war." Nikola Madzirov, poet; "It's been a long while since Bosnian literature has seen such an interesting and fine writer such as Faruk Sehic." Enver Kazaz, editor and critic

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Book SynopsisWhile Ireland (like much of the rest of the world) was in lockdown in Spring and Summer 2020, we scratched our heads and wondered what to do to help lift people's spirits. We decided to join forces with Irish Pensions & Finance and run a competition celebrating Irish people's love of a good story – and a good laugh. There were only two requirements: make it funny, and make it (fairly) short. We were overwhelmed by the response: we received hundreds of entries, from all over the island and points beyond, by people from all walks of life. There were only three winners - but we decided to gather the best stories into a book. And here they are – from the sublime to the ridiculous. Think Graham Norton's Big Red Chair to Samuel Beckett's dark humor – and all points in between. The result is: Brevity is the Soul: Wit from Locked-Down Ireland.

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Book SynopsisAddress Book is the new work of fiction by the Costa-shortlisted author of Skin Lane. Neil Bartlett's cycle of stories takes us to seven very different times and situations: from a new millennium civil partnership celebration to erotic obsession in a Victorian tenement, from a council-flat bedroom at the height of the AIDS crisis to a doctor's living-room in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, they lead us through decades of change to discover hope in the strangest of places. 'Bartlett is a pioneer on and off the page and we are lucky to have him telling our stories' DAMIAN BARR 'One of England's finest writers' EDMUND WHITETrade Review"Vivid characters, a fascinating subject and an expertly evoked setting. Excellent’"– Daily Mail; "Bartlett delights in taking that which was once hidden and making it clear for all to see." – Independent; "This book and its enchanting characters had me under their spell. I was bewitched." – Sheila Hancock; "Mysterious, tender and utterly compelling." – S.J. Watson "One of England’s finest writers" – Edmund White

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Book SynopsisMade up of over 17,000 islands, Indonesia is the fourth most populous country on the planet. It is home to hundreds of different ethnicities and languages, and a cultural identity that is therefore constantly in flux. Like the country as a whole, the capital Jakarta is a multiplicity of irreducible, unpredictable and contradictory perspectives. From down-and-out philosophers to roadside entertainers, the characters in these stories see Jakarta from all angles. Traversing different neighbourhoods and social strata, their stories capture the energy, aspirations, and ever-changing landscape of what is also the world's fastest-sinking city. Translated by Mikael Johani, Zoe McLaughlin, Shaffira Gayatri, Khairani Barokka, Daniel Owen, Paul Agusta, Eliza Vitri Handayani, Syarafina Vidyadhana, Rara Rizal and Annie Tucker. This book has been published with the support of the British Council.Trade Review'Words are one of the most powerful ways in which to travel - so if you've ever fancied visiting the Indonesian capital, this book is an initial glimpse into its very heart.' - Bad Form Review

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Book SynopsisThe history of walls – as a way to keep people in or out – is also the history of people managing to get around, over and under them. From the Berlin Wall and the Mexico–US border, to the barbed wire fences of Bangladesh’s refugee camps, the short stories in this anthology explore the barriers that have sought to divide communities and nations, and their traumatic effects on people’s lives and histories. At a time when more walls are being built than are being brought down, All Walls Collapse brings together writing from across national, ethnic and linguistic borders, challenging the political impulse to separate and segregate, and celebrating the role of literature in traversing division.Table of ContentsForeword vii Philippe Sands Introduction ix Will Forrester & Sarah Cleave Translucency 1 Paulo Scott Translated by Daniel Hahn These Days 11 Geetanjali Shree Translated by Daisy Rockwell The Gap 23 Maya Abu Al-Hayat Translated by Yasmine Seale Collateral Damage 29 Zahra El Hasnaoui Ahmed Translated by Dorothy Odartey-Wellington What the Cat Passed On 39 Kyung-Sook Shin Translated by Anton Hur This Side of the Wall 53 Juan Pablo Villalobos Translated by Rosalind Harvey The Fence 65 Krisztina Tóth Translated by Peter Sherwood Reunited 77 Muyesser Abdul’ehed Translated by Munawwar Abdulla Brandy Sour 89 Constantia Soteriou Translated by Lina Protopapa Between Two Infernos 107 Rezuwan Khan Translated by Hla Hla Win Mother’s MacGuffin 115 Larissa Boehning Translated by Lyn Marven

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Book SynopsisCovering US foreign policy from 1945 to the present day, an anthology of specially commissioned stories by authors from across the globe addressing America's history of intervention.

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Book Synopsis"Now's not the time to think. Now's the time to feel." A taxi ride, a train trip, a family photo: in About Us, seemingly unremarkable journeys and mundane objects ripple with the repercussions of past decisions. All is not what it seems at a family wedding, a regretful father risks estranging his daughter, and a young woman is tormented by the cries of a baby that her partner cannot hear. Reda Gaudiamo's characters charm, chafe and confound in a series of intimate snapshots of domestic relationships. With twists shifting from the comically mischievous to the abruptly chilling, this collection is a bold slice of contemporary Indonesian literature.

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Book SynopsisIn the title story, Inspector Dreadlock Holmes and his sidekick Rudeyard Fly are sent for by the Criminal Investigation Department of Middleham-by-Sea - a little town known for tea shops, pet shops, and florists - in short, a rustic retreat for naughty weekends. Keen to kick-start their diversity policy, the Department sends for two Black cops who see this as a chance to prove their cross-cultural mettle and solve the brutal attack on Lord Montagu, a controversial political figure found unconscious with a courgette by his side. In other stories, an Anansi spider stows away on the Windrush, Cod and Chips are usurped by Chicken Tikka Marsala, and a white landscape gardener who admires Capability Brown has a mixed-race child, Cosmopolitan Brown, who is dispossessed by voices from history, including that of Martin Luther King. Surreal and playful, John Agard's stories reveal hidden truths that subtly change our view of who we are and where we come from.Trade Review'... If Agard had not already been forged in the roller-coaster aftermath of empire, there would be an urgent need for society to invent someone like him' FINANCIAL TIMES

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Book SynopsisA Nobel laureate struggles to write a convincing suicide note; a hobo sings of hope in the darkest hours after the Grenfell disaster; in a strange post-death waiting room, Anna Karenina and Emma Bovary exchange confidences, and a scientist finally discovers the appalling truth about a boyhood friendship. Unpredictable, haunting, with a streak of black humour, this collection ranges across the world, from Petersburg to Guyana, Syria to London, Argentina to Edinburgh. Its diverse characters are caught up in wars or revolution, escaping the past or finally returning to confront it.Trade Review‘In this virtuoso performance, Pauline Melville shows us a world in upheaval, and reminds us that that’s where we live.’ A collection of 14 brilliant, diverse and utterly intriguing short stories, laced through with dark humour. * The Herald *Darkly funny, these stories are political and bold, refusing to shy away from dictators, occupations or revolutions. * Mslexia *Terrific read beautifully written.AMAZING.I enjoyed this short story collection, though can't put my finger on exactly why. Well worth a read.Fresh and totally absorbing... The perfect read for yet another globally turbulent summer. * Ancient to Future *A compelling and unique short story collection. * readers_retreat *

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Book Synopsis"“I wanted to be close to you. So I went to the forest…” Gardens, relationships and imaginations run wild in Katie Oliver’s debut short fiction collection. The world is unpredictable and no woman is safe. Boundaries are blurred: between fantasy and reality, technology and nature, autonomy and oppression. The threat of violence simmers throughout as women transform into birds, converse with plants and plot their revenge. These dark, surreal tales will put down roots and stay with you long after reading: how close… is too close?"Trade Review"Katie Oliver’s narrators are often facing a choice between the cold, clean world of technology and the murky darkness of nature, with neither option as the safe one, both posing a threat to the bodies of these women and their tenuous grip on sanity." - The Word Factory"Oliver’s universe is surreal, fetid, and teeming with organic purpose" - The Yorkshire Times

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Book Synopsis‘The foreigner is within me, hence we’re all foreigners. If we’re all foreigners, there are no foreigners.’ – Julia KristevaStrangers Within is an anthology exploring the idea of documentary as encounter through essays, stories, interviews and other creative responses by filmmakers, artists, and writers. The texts engage with the risks of encounter, unsettling assumptions about the distinctions between host and guest; stranger and friend; self and other; documentarian and protagonist. Opening up a series of questions about the mystery of another person, whose difference and unknowability is already a part of one’s self, the anthology offers a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the convergences between encounter, hospitality and autobiography.With contributions by Khalik Allah, Ruth Beckermann, Jon Bang Carlsen, Adam Christensen, Annie Ernaux, Gareth Evans, Jane Fawcett, Xiaolu Guo, Umama Hamido, Therese Henningsen, Marc Isaacs, Mary Jiménez Freeman-Morris, Juliette Joffé, Andrew and Eden Kötting, David MacDougall, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Toni Morrison, Bruno de Wachter and Andrea Luka Zimmerman.

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Book SynopsisSeven Rooms brings together highlights from Hotel, a magazine for new approaches to fiction, non-fiction & poetry which, since its inception in 2016, provided a space for experimental reflection on literature's status as art & cultural mediator. Co-published by Tenement Press and Prototype, this anthology captures, refracts, and reflects a vital moment in independent publishing in the UK, and is built on the shared values of openness, collaboration, and total creative freedom.Table of ContentsFeaturing, in order of appearance ... Mario Dondero, Erica Baum, Jess Cotton, Rebecca Tamas, Stephen Watts, Helen Cammock, Salvador Espriu, Lucy Mercer, Lucy Sante, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Ryan Choi, John Yau, Nicolette Polek, Chris Petit, Sascha Macht, Amanda DeMarco, Mark Lanegan, Vala Thorodds, Richard Scott, Joshua Cohen, Hannah Regel, Nick Cave, Daisy Lafarge, Holly Pester, Matthew Gregory, Olivier Castel, Emmanuel Iduma, Joan Brossa, Cameron Griffiths, Imogen Cassels, Hisham Bustani, Maia Tabet, Raul Guerrero, Velimir Khlebnikov, Natasha Randall, Edwina Atlee, Matthew Shaw, Aidan Moffat, Lesley Harrison, Oliver Bancroft, Lauren de Sa Naylor, Will Eaves, Sandro Miller, Jim Hugunin, Levina van Winden, Aram Saroyan, Glykeria Patramani, Will Oldham, Antonio Tabucchi, Yasmine Seale, Elizabeth Harris, Nina Mingya Powles, Isabel Galleymore, Makiko Faruichi, Jason Shulman, Jeffrey Vallance, Preti Taneja, Stanley Schtinter, the Wayne Koestenbaum papers ( Yale's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library), Sophie Seita, Ralf Webb, Jonathan Chandler, Iain Sinclair, SJ Fowler, Cass McCombs, David Grubbs, Agustin Fernandez Mallo, Pere Joan, Thomas Bunstead, Adrian Bridget and John Divola. With a foreword by Dominic J. Jaeckle & Jess Chandler, and an afterword by Gareth Evans.

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Book SynopsisWhether it is the resuscitated corpse that visits a hotel gust in The House of the Dead or the maleficent returning warlock cocooning a tomb robber in Mad Allen, or the taking shape of a vague apprehension in A School Story, or a human sacrifice in Blood of the Lamb, Bell knows that what we fear most is the sensation of being afraid and that it is the reader’s imagination which conjures up the true phantoms of terror.

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Book SynopsisA tree falls in the forest and I am/ there to make sure no one hears it./Beloved: It’s not that I am/unwilling to be seized by sound,/ everyday I am undone by it. Khando Langri Our poets and authors were given the theme of Movement. They have intepreted this in many ways: movement as communication and connection, mobility, and stillness, being moved emotionally, movement within and after Lockdown, freedom of movement, and being part of a political movement. Poems, short fiction and scripts from UK Deaf, deaf and hard of hearing writers. Our theme is movement. Stories and poems from Alison Campbell, Ayesha B. Gavin, Bryony Parkes, Charlie Swinbourne, Clare-Louise English, Colly Metcalfe, David Callin, Dee Cooke, Diane Dobson, DL Williams, Elizabeth Ward, Emma Lee, Hala Hashem, Janet Hatherley, Jay Caldwell, John Kefala Kerr, John Wilson, Josephine Dickinson, Julie Boden, Khando Langri, Ksenia Balabina, Liam O'Dell, Lianne Herbert, Lynn Buckle, Maggie Arbeid, Marilyn Longstaff, Maryam Ebrahim, Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford, Melanie Jayne Ashford, Rodney Wood, Sahera Khan, Samantha Baines, Sarah Clarke, Sarah O Adedeji, Sophie Woolley, Terri Jade Donovan.

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Book SynopsisStephen Leacock is an unjustly neglected master of the short-story genre, once considered the best-known humorist in the world. Although he was a prolific writer, producing about fifty novels, biographies and histories, he was best known for his humorous articles and short stories in magazines. One of his later collections, Frenzied Fiction shows a master of a genre at the height of his game, and contains all the hallmarks of his earlier work and the trademark wit which he had refined over the previous decades. By turns laugh-aloud hilarious and poignant, and containing such gems as ‘My Recollections as a Spy’ and ‘Simple Stories of Success, or How to Succeed in Life’, this collection builds a strong case against prohibition, paints a moving picture of a war-torn world, caricatures and lampoons novelists, actors and princes, and demonstrates why he met with such success and stacked a fan base with figures as varied John Lane, A.P. Herbert and Groucho Marx.Trade Review'No one, anywhere in the world, can reduce a thing to ridicule with such few short strokes.' (Evening Standard) 'His wisdom is always humorous, and his humour is always wise.' (Sunday Times) 'Professor Leacock has made more people laugh with the written word than any other living author. One may say he is one of the greatest jesters, the greatest humorist of the age.' (A.P. Herbert)Table of Contents'My Revelations as a Spy', 'Father Knickerbocker A Fantasy', 'The Prophet in Our Midst', 'Personal Adventures in the Spirit World', 'The Sorrows of a Summer Guest', 'To Nature and Back Again', 'The Caveman as He Is', 'Ideal Interviews (with a European prince, with our greatest actor, with our greatest scientist, with our typical novelists)', 'The New Education', 'The Errors of Santa Claus', 'Lost in New York: A Visitor’s Soliloquy', 'This Strenuous Age', 'The Old, Old Story of How Five Men Went Fishing', 'Back from the Land', 'The Perplexity Column as Done by the Jaded Journalist', 'Simple Stories of Success Or How to Succeed in Life', 'In Dry Toronto: A Local Study of a Universal Topic', 'Merry Christmas, Note on the Text, Notes

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Book Synopsis"Despite the hordes of people packing the theatre that day, I can't remember a single face."An extended meditation on the world of Korean cinema, the blockbuster versus the independent artist, its trends and its characters and role in society, as seen through the eyes of a film enthusiast narrator and their interactions with those around them, each on their own journey.

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Book Synopsis"The bloodstains on the linoleum were impossible to remove completely."A madcap, sci-fi, found-family caper set in a world where a small group of people, known as 'monsters', have developed odd special powers or traits necessitating their voluntary, or less voluntary, incarceration while the state works out what to do with them and which builds to a wonderfully comic set-piece, charmingly told with tenderness and wry humour.

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Book Synopsis"I simply shrugged at her like a westerner, which did nothing to temper the bottled-up shame and simmering anger within me."A cranky woman of letters ends up investigating after a story submitted for a writing competition at a government sponsored magazine is pulled from publication by its author, and in doing so finds a story of her own.

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Book Synopsis"Are you referring to the 'strange and sorrowful coincidences'? That's what I call them. I don't know what you've heard, but they're no ordinary, everyday thing, just so we're clear."A young woman rumoured to be possed of a strange supernatural ability and a young man take a walk. As she tells him her story it emerges that he has a specific request of her concerning a problem of his own. A charming tale of unlikely friendship found.

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Book Synopsis"If I had to choose the richest person whom I would call a friend, I would pick Han Seung-hui."A reconnection with an old friend leads to an intriguing party invite with surprising results and, through this simple tale and the progress of a single relationship, but from separate and very different worlds, a deeper story is told of contemporary society and class.

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Book Synopsis"My name is きょうこ, Kyoko, I am Korean ... I have something important to tell you."A subtly disorienting story of reminiscences between a mother and daughter as they each in their own way struggle with the effects of the mother's encroaching dementia. As they each try to piece together the fragments of a traumatic history, through doing so they tell a wider story of Korea itself.

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