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
Everyman Mavis Gallant Collected Stories
Book SynopsisThis generous collection of fifty-two stories selected from across her prolific career by the author, is preceded by a preface in which she discusses the sources of her art.With irony and an unfailing eye for the telling detail, Gallant weaves stories of spare complexity, often pushing the boundaries of the form in boldly unconventional directions. The settings in the COLLECTED STORIES range from Paris to Berlin to Switzerland, from the Riviera to the Côte d'Azur, and her characters are almost all exiles of one sort or another, as she herself was the most of her expatriate life. The wit and precision of her prose, combined with her expansive view of humanity, provide a rare and deep reading pleasure. With breathtaking control and compression, Gallant delivers a whole life, a whole world, in each story.Trade ReviewOne of the most brilliant story writers in the language. * The New Yorker *Gallant's talent is as versatile and witty as it is somber and empathetic. -- John UpdikeFunny, exacting, and stern... Gallant's chronicles of internal and external exile are a fitting tribute to a diasporic century. * The Guardian *
£14.39
Everyman Christmas Stories
Book SynopsisAs a literary subject, Christmas has inspired everything from intimate domestic dramas, to fanciful flights of the imagination, and the full range of its expression is represented in this wonderfully engaging collection. Goblins frolic in the graveyard of an early Dickens tale; a love-struck ghost disrupts a country estate in Elizabeth Bowen's 'Green Holly'; devils, witches, Cossacks and peasants cavort in Gogol's 'The Night Before Christmas'. The plight of the less fortunate haunts Chekhov's 'Vanka' and Willa Cather's 'The Burglar's Christmas', but takes a boisterously comic turn in Damon Runyon's 'Dancing Dan's Christmas' and John Cheever's 'Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor'. From Nabokov's intensely moving story of a father's grief in 'Christmas' to Truman Capote's hilarious yet heartbreaking 'A Christmas Memory', from Grace Paley's Jewish girl in the Christmas pageant in 'The Loudest Voice' to the dysfunctional family ski holiday in Richard Ford's 'Creche' - each of the stories is imbued with Christmas spirit of one kind or another, and all are richly and indelibly entertaining.
£13.50
Alma Books Ltd The Suitcase
Several years after emigrating from the USSR, the author discovers the battered suitcase he had brought with him gathering dust at the back of a wardrobe. As he opens the suitcase, the items he finds inside take on a riotously funny life of their own as Dovlatov inventories the circumstances under which he acquired them. A poplin shirt evokes a story of courtship and marriage, a pair of boots calls up the hilarious conclusion to an official banquet, two pea-green crêpe socks bring back memories of his attempt to become a black-market racketeer, while a double-breasted suit reminds him of when he was approached by the KGB to spy on a Swedish writer. Imbued with a comic nostalgia and overlaid with Dovlatov’s characteristically dark-edged humour and wry power of observation, The Suitcase is a profoundly human, delightfully ironic novel from one of the finest satirists of the twentieth century.
£8.54
Alma Books Ltd Babylon Revisited and Other Stories
Book SynopsisSet in the year after the 1929 crash and incorporating many autobiographical elements, ‘Babylon Revisited’ tells the story of the widower Charlie Wales, a reformed alcoholic and successful businessman returning to Paris to convince his in-laws to give him back the daughter he abandoned. As the old haunts of the city he used to carouse in seem more and more alien to him, he finds himself assailed by feelings of guilt and regret. Considered one of Fitzgerald’s finest and most poignant pieces of short fiction, 'Babylon Revisited’ is presented here with a selection of other tales published in the same period, such as ‘Crazy Sunday’ – an account of alcoholism and infidelity in Hollywood – which showcase the author at his creative best.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: A New Leaf, A Freeze-out, Six of One..., Family in the Wind, What a Handsome Pair!, Crazy Sunday, One Intern, More than Just a House, The Fiend, The Night at Chancellorsville, Afternoon of an Author, Financing Finnegan, The Lost Decade, Last Kiss.
£7.59
Alma Books Ltd Dark Avenues
Considered one of the most influential authors of twentieth century Russian Literature, Ivan Bunin's "Dark Avenues" is the culmination of a life's work which unrelentingly questioned of the political doxa whilst taking his poetic mastery of language to dark new heights. Written between 1938 and 1944 and set in the context of a disintegrating Russian culture, this collection of short fiction centres around dark, erotic liaisons told with a rich, elegaic poetics which probes the artistic limits of depicting desire.A prolific writer and fierce political activist, Bunin became the first Russian to win the Nobel prize for Literature in 1933 and was highly influential on his contemporary Russian emigres, Checkov and Nabokov. The "Dark Avenues" is the zenith of his work and one of the most important Russian texts to come out of the twentieth century.
£9.49
Alma Books Ltd The Queen of Spades and Other Stories: Newly
Book SynopsisThis collection of Pushkin’s stories begins with ‘The Queen of Spades’, perhaps the most celebrated short story in Russian literature. The young Hermann, while watching some friends gambling, hears a rumour of how an officer’s grandmother is always able to predict the three winning cards in a game. He becomes obsessed with the woman and her seemingly mystical powers, and seeks to extract the secret from her at any cost. This volume, part of a new series of the complete works of Pushkin in English, also includes ‘Dubrovsky’, the story of a man’s desire to avenge himself after his land is unjustly taken from him by an aristocrat; ‘The Negro of Peter the Great’, a tale inspired by Pushkin’s maternal grandfather; and the unfinished story ‘Egyptian Nights’, a meditation on poetry and the poet. Together, they represent some of the most striking and enduring pieces of Pushkin’s prose fiction.Table of ContentsContains 'The Queen of Spades', 'Kirdzhali', 'The Negro of Peter the Great', 'The Guests Were Arriving at the Dacha...', 'A Novel in Letters', 'Notes of a Young Man', 'My Fate Is Sealed: I Am Getting Married', 'A Fragment', 'In the Corner of a SmallSquare', 'Roslavlev', 'A Novel at a Caucasian Spa', 'Dubrovsky', 'A Tale of Roman life', 'Maria Schoning', 'A Russian Pelham', 'We Were Spending the Evening at Princess D.'s Dacha', 'Egyptian Nights', 'In 179- I was Returning', 'The Last of the Lineage of Joan of Arc'. Includes a foreword by Professor John Bayley, University of Oxford and an introduction by PaulDebreczeny, University of North Carolina
£8.54
Alma Books Ltd The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories
Book SynopsisWhen the Americans Mr and Mrs Otis and their four children move into Canterville Chase, its previous occupant Lord Canterville warns them that the ghost of his ancestor still haunts the house. Their disbelief is soon shattered by the nightly sound of rattling chains in the hallways and the appearance of mysterious bloodstains in the living room. However, the ghost struggles to intimidate his new victims, as they counter his ghoulish behaviour with typically transatlantic pragmatism, offering lubricator for his chains and cleaning up the stains with detergent. As the spirit is deserted by his capacity to scare, Virginia, the Otises’ daughter, gets to know him and learns the tragic tale behind his sad fate. Sparkling with his trademark wit, this classic tale is one of Oscar Wilde’s finest stories and is presented here with three other comic mystery stories, ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime’, ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ and ‘The Model Millionaire’, all of which were first published together in 1891.Table of ContentsThe Canterville GhostLord Arthur Savile's CrimeThe Sphinx Without a SecretThe Model Millionaire
£6.99
Alma Books Ltd The Green Dwarf and Other Early Fiction:
Book SynopsisInspired by a box of wooden toy soldiers given as a present to her elder brother Branwell in 1826, Charlotte Brontë created, together with her siblings, a series of tales set in the imaginary realm of Glass Town. In ‘The Green Dwarf’, against the backdrop of war, the arrogant aristocrat Colonel Percy and the enigmatic Mr Leslie are vying for the affections of the beautiful Lady Emily. Soon, with the rivals both on the front line, and with the scheming Percy hatching a plot that involves the mysterious Green Dwarf, Leslie finds himself facing danger on all sides… Full of tragedy and passion, love and rivalry, the five sweeping tales contained in this volume display the precocious talent, lively imagination and flair for storytelling of the young Charlotte Brontë.Trade ReviewWho that has known her books has not admired the artist’s noble English, the burning love of truth, the bravery, the simplicity, the indignation at wrong, the eager sympathy, the pious love and reverence, the passionate honour, so to speak, of the woman? -- William Makepeace ThackerayIt's a cracker… It is novelettish. It is Gothic. It is funny… -- Libby PurvesTable of ContentsContains: 'The Green Dwarf’, 'The Foundling’, 'The Secret’, 'Lily Hart’, 'The Spell’ and 'Tales of the Islanders’
£7.59
Everyman Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde And Other Stories
Book SynopsisPublished as a ''shilling shocker'', Robert Louis Stevenson''s dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll''s strange association with the ''damnable young man'' Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde''s true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity''s basest capacity for evil.
£12.34
Everyman Collected Shorter Fiction Boxed Set (2 Volumes)
Book SynopsisWritten over a period of more than half a century, Tolstoy’s enchanting short stories and novellas reflect every aspect of his developing art and outlook. Volume 1 of the Everyman Collected Shorter Fiction is dominated by the characteristic experiences of his early life as soldier, land-owner, husband and father, the life which shaped Anna Karenina and War and Peace. It also includes several short fables which point to his later preoccupation with the religious life. Volume 2 reveals how these spiritual intimations flowered into a series of extraordinary late masterpieces which equal anything in the earlier novels for intensity and power. Readers of The Death of Ivan Ilych, The Kreutzer Sonata, Father Sergius, Master and Man and Hadji Murad will recognize the brilliant younger novelist, now transfigured by his passionate quest for salvation and forgiveness.
£44.00
Comma Press The Madman of Freedom Square
Book SynopsisFrom hostage-video makers in Baghdad, to human trafficking in the forests of Serbia, institutionalised paranoia in the Saddam years, to the nightmares of an exile trying to embrace a new life in Amsterdam... Blasim’s stories present an uncompromising view of the West's relationship with Iraq, spanning over twenty years and taking in everything from the Iran-Iraq War through to the Occupation, as well as offering a haunting critique of the post-war refugee experience. Blending allegory with historical realism, and subverting readers’ expectations in an unflinching comedy of the macabre, these stories manage to be both phantasmagoric and shockingly real, light in touch yet steeped in personal nightmare. For all their despair and darkness, though, what lingers more than the haunting images of war, or the insanity of those who would benefit from it, is the spirit of defiance, the indefatigable courage of those few characters keeping faith with what remains of human intelligence. Together these stories represent the first major literary work about the war from an Iraqi perspective.Trade Review'Blasim pitches everyday horror into something almost gothic... his taste for the surreal can be Gogol-like.' - The Independent; 'Crisp and shocking.... Too febrile and macabre to file under reportage, this cruel, funny and unsettling debut has hooks and twists that will lodge in any mind.' - The Guardian; ‘Blasim moves adeptly between surreal, internalised states of mind and ironic commentary on Islamic extremism and the American invasion... excellent.’ - The Metro
£14.36
HarperCollins Publishers Gold
Book SynopsisThe last Isaac Asimov science fiction collection which contains all of his previously uncollected stories.Gold is Isaac Asimov''s last science fiction collection one containing all of his uncollected SF stories that had never before appeared in book form. Gold is the final and crowning achievement of the fifty-five year career of science fiction''s transcendent genius the world-famous author who defined the field of SF for its practitioners for its millions of readers and for the world at large.The stories collected here for the first time range from the humorous to the profound for Asimov was engaged until the end of his days in the work of redefining and expanding the boundaries of the literature he loved and indeed helped create. And there is more. For at the heart of this extraordinary compendium is the title story Gold a moving and revealing drama about a writer who gambles everything on a chance at immortality-a gamble Asimov himself made. And won.Trade Review‘Isaac Asimov was one of the great explainers of the age…It will never be known how many practicing scientists today, in how many countries, owe their initial inspiration to a book, article, or short story by Isaac Asimov’Carl Sagan ‘Asimov displayed one of the most dynamic imaginations in science fiction’Daily Telegraph ‘Asimov’s career was one of the most formidable in science fiction’The Times
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Grandmothers
Book SynopsisFour novellas by Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, that once again show her to be unequalled in her ability to capture the truth of the human condition.The title story, The Grandmothers', is an astonishing tour de force, a shockingly intimate portrait of an unconventional extended family and the lengths to which they will go to find happiness and love. Written with a keen cinematic eye, the story is a ruthless dissection of the veneer of middle-class morality and convention.Victoria and the Staveneys', takes us through 20 years of the life of a young underprivileged black girl in London. A chance meeting introduces her to the Staveneys a liberal white middle-class family and, seduced, she falls pregnant by one of the sons. As her daughter grows up, Victoria feels her parental control diminishing as the attractions of the Staveneys' world exert themselves. An honest and often uncomfortable look at race relations in London over the past few decades, Lessing reaffTrade Review'Lessing's prose is as vigorous in these stories as it has ever been. She has an extraordinary feel not only for landscape but also for the human creature within it.' The Times 'In these four tales Lessing shows her adaptability, and her capacity to unify the most far-flung territories of human experience. Like all great writers, she brings a multitudinous sensibility to bear on individual people, on single rooms, on particular moments – and she makes them live.' Daily Telegraph ‘Doris Lessing has changed the way we think about the world.’ Blake Morrison ‘Thank goodness for Doris Lessing. While the rest of us flounder about noisily in the muddy waters of life, she never fails to expose with startling clarity the essential folly of our dreams and good intentions.’ Kate Chisholm, Evening Standard ‘She’s up there in the pantheon with Balzac and George Eliot. We’re lucky she’s still writing.’ Lisa Appignanesi, Independent ‘She has an extraordinary feeling for the peculiar vulnerabilities of the young and the elderly. And her portraits of human relationships are of quite staggering beauty.’ Ruth Scurr, The Times
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Ray Bradbury Stories Volume 1
Book SynopsisOne hundred classic stories from the celebrated author of Fahrenheit 451.In this, the first volume of Ray Bradbury''s short stories, some of the author''s finest works are published together, among them Homecoming', Veldt', A Sound of Thunder' and The Long Rain'.Join an ill-fated crew of astronauts pushed to the brink of insanity by the incessant and highly corrosive rain on Venus, a high-tech virtual reality playroom that comes to life with terrible consequences, and a safari company offering tours for the wealthy back in time to the prehistoric era to stalk and kill dinosaurs, resulting in the present they return to being irrevocably altered.This collection is a rare treasure trove of wonder; as apprehensive about technology and the fate of humanity as it is elegiaic of its irrepressible progress. Each story presents an enlightening and poetic facet of Bradbury's writing, every one as relevant now as when it was first written.Trade Review'Ray Bradbury has a powerful and mysterious imagination which would undoubtedly earn the respect of Edgar Allen Poe'Guardian 'As a science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury has long been streets ahead of anyone else' Daily Telegraph ‘Almost no one can imagine a time or place without the fiction of Ray Bradbury…’ The Washington Post
£17.09
HarperCollins Publishers WELL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS A brand new collection of
Book SynopsisFrom one of the greatest living literary imaginations and the celebrated author of FAHRENHEIT 451 comes a collection of never-before-published effortlessly beautiful tales.Recently described in The Times as ''the uncrowned poet laureate of science fiction'' Ray Bradbury has won numerous awards including a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 2007 and an Emmy.In this new volume of never-before-published stories, follow a space shuttle crew as they voyage sixty million miles from home, discover what happens when a writer ''with the future''s eye'' believes his friend to be writing stories aboard a UFO, and listen in on a couple talking themselves backwards through time to the moment when they first held hands.This entertaining and gripping collection is a treasure trove of Bradbury gems eerie and strange, nostalgic and bittersweet, searching and speculative to delight readers of all ages.Trade Review'Let us now praise Ray Bradbury, the uncrowned poet laureate of science fiction.' The Times 'It is impossible not to admire the vigour of his prose, similes and metaphors constantly cascading from his imagination' Spectator ‘Bradbury is an authentic original’ Time Magazine ‘No other writer uses language with greater originality and zest. he seems to be a American Dylan Thomas – with discipline’ Sunday Telegraph PRAISE FOR NOW AND FOREVER:‘A meditation on writing, inspiration, ageing and change, all deep themes lightly handled, both elegiac and suspenseful… There are echos in it not only of Melville, but of Shakespeare, Whitman and Poe … The language sings.’ The Times
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Sands of Time
Book SynopsisA spine-tingling collection of haunting tales, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Lady of Hay.Sands of Time features two intriguing stories that pick up the fortunes of characters from Whispers in the Sand, Barbara Erskine''s captivating Egyptian novel. Still haunted by ancient mysteries, and the subject of dark intentions, Anna and Louisa must once more do battle with the past in order to survive the present.Alongside these are a host of other tales, all with a touch of the unexpected. A happily married woman has an affair with a man who died in the First World War. Who is the little girl on the swing in the garden and why does only Charlotte see her? And how does a traveller find herself transported suddenly from her airplane seat to the snowy Canadian wasteland below?Suspense, romance, passion, unexpected echoes of the past vintage Barbara Erskine, and storytelling at its most compelling.Readers LOVE Barbara Erskine:Atmospheric' ?????Enthralling' ?????Spellbinding' ?????Another fabulous read from the mistress of the genre' ?????Immensely and deeply immersive fiction' ?????I loved every minute' ?????An exceptional writer of great books' ?????You can rely on this author to keep you wanting more' ?????A joy to read' ?????Captivating and engrossing' ?????Trade ReviewPraise for Barbara Erskine: ‘Her forte is mood, atmosphere and the toe-curling frisson’ Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Times ‘Barbara Erskine’s storytelling talent is undeniable’ The Times ‘Marvellous, escapist stuff’ Woman and Home
£9.49
HarperCollins Maktub
Book SynopsisA NATIONAL BESTSELLERAn essential companion to the inspirational classic The Alchemist, filled with timeless stories of reflection and rediscovery.From one of the greatest writers of our age comes a collection of stories and parables unlocking the mysteries of the human condition. Gathered from Paulo Coelho’s daily column of the same name, Maktub, meaning “it is written,” invites seekers on a journey of faith, self-reflection, and transformation. As Paulo Coelho explains, “Maktub is not a book of advice—but an exchange of experiences.”Each story offers an illuminated path to see life and the lives of our fellow people around the world in new ways, allowing us to tap into universal truths about our collective and individual humanity. As Coelho writes, “a man who seeks only the light, while shirking his responsibilities, will never find illumination. And one who keep his eyes fixed upon the sun . . . ends up blind.” These wise tales offer the perspective of talking snakes, old women climbing mountains, disciples querying their masters, Buddha in dialogue, mysterious hermits, and many saints addressing the mysteries of the universe.Following the path of his previous internationally bestselling works, this thoughtful collection of short, inspirational pieces, introduced in a foreword by the author and illustrated with black-and-white line art throughout, will engage seekers of all ages and backgrounds.
£18.74
Penguin Random House India Collected Stories
Book SynopsisFeel your way, blinded, through âThe Night of the Curlewsâ.
£11.99
Penguin Books Ltd New Penguin Parallel Texts. Short Stories in
Book SynopsisThis new volume of eight short stories offers students of German at all levels the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of contemporary literature in the original, with the aid of parallel translations.The majority of these stories have been written in the past decade, and reflect a rich diversity of styles and themes. Complete with notes, the stories make excellent reading in either language.Table of ContentsShort Stories in GermanIntroductionThe Listener, or a Description of a Route with a Hidden MotiveSiegfried Lenz (b. 1926)Waiting for the Guests Dieter Wellershoff (b. 1925)Eating Mussels (Excerpt) Birgit Vanderbeke (b. 1956)The Good Old Days Gabriele Wohmann (b. 1932)Lascia Judith Hermann (b. 1970)Chicago/Shanty Town Georg Klein (b. 1953)Grandfather and the Decision-makers Christoph Hein (b. 1944)The Suspect Jurek Becker (b. 1937)Notes on German TextAcknowledgments
£10.44
Columbia University Press Tales of Moonlight and Rain
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewChambers's edition of Tales of Moonlight and Rain is well worthwhile... Highly Recommended. The Complete Review A shining new version of a living Japanese classic. Japan Times Japan scholars and people who just like weird, spooky stuff should enjoy this new edition of Akinari's classic. -- Brad Quinn Daily Yomiuri Chambers's new translation is a lucid addition to the handful of previous versions. -- James Lasdun's The GuardianTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Tales of Moonlight and Rain Preface Book One Shiramine The Chrysanthemum Vow Book Two The Reed-Choked House The Carp of My Dreams Book Three The Owl of the Three Jewels The Kibitsu Caldron Book Four A Serpent's Lust Book Five The Blue Hood On Poverty and Wealth Bibliography
£19.80
Penguin Books Ltd Kiss Kiss
Book SynopsisRoald Dahl, the best-loved of children's writers, was born in 1916 in Wales of Norwegian parents. He was educated in England before starting work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa, and began writing after a 'monumental bash on the head' sustained as an RAF fighter pilot during the Second World War. He worked in a tiny hut in the apple orchard of his house in Buckinghamshire until his death in 1990 at the age of 74. Roald Dahl's many books continue to be read by children the world over who delight in the magic of his marvellous storytelling. His books continue to be bestsellers, despite his death in 1990, and total sales are 100 million worldwide!Trade ReviewUnnerving bedtime stories, subtle, proficient, hair-raising and done to a turn * San Francisco Chronicle *Roald Dahl is one of the few writers I know whose work can accurately be described as addictive * Irish Times *
£10.44
Yale University Press Exemplary Novels
Book SynopsisEdith Grossman, celebrated for her brilliant translation of Don Quixote, offers a dazzling new version of another Cervantes classicTrade Review“For most English-language readers, Cervantes is a one-book wonder. But these twelve novellas, newly translated by the virtuosic Edith Grossman, are a revelation to us. They are a feast for Cervantes’ admirers, and stand truly by themselves—witty, naughty, trenchant, smart, widely ranging, thoroughly modern and readable. Coming late in Cervantes’ life, they are a sly and mischievous and memorable adiós—just as we would expect.”—Richard Ford“Exemplary Novels spans nearly the whole creative life of Cervantes. . . . The book is like a summing up of Cervantes’s fiction, displaying its broad range of topics, characters, styles, and plots.”—Roberto González Echevarría, author of Cervantes’ Don Quixote (Open Yale Course Series)“It seems appropriate that Edith Grossman publishes her translation of the Exemplary Novels thirteen years after the printing of her masterful translation of Don Quijote, as it took Cervantes ten years to come out with his second part of Don Quijote. Thus the supreme English translation of the best novel ever written on this side of the galaxy both precedes and follows the colloquy of Cipión and Berganza, as the wise words of both dogs precede and proceed those of the knight and the squire on their painful search for the meaning of human identity.”—Carlos Rojas“Finally we have a worthy translation of Cervantes’s Exemplary Novels, the extraordinary follow-up to Don Quixote that enchanted generations of readers, but that has not been widely available to English readers in a version that approaches the sparkling original. Reading Edith Grossman’s gorgeous prose is like traveling to a far-off place, unearthing a hidden container, and finding in it a glove that slips onto your hand like a second skin.”—William Egginton, author of The Man Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World“Edith Grossman is one of the best Hispanists in the English language world and an extraordinary translator. Her version of the Quijote, which appeared a few years ago, was unanimously celebrated, and the same will no doubt happen with this new version of Cervantes’s Exemplary Novels.”—Mario Vargas Llosa
£25.07
Pan Macmillan The Question of Bruno
Book SynopsisAleksandar Hemon is the author of The Making of Zombie Wars; The Book of My Lives, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; The Lazarus Project, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times bestseller; The World and All That It Holds; and three books of short stories, including Nowhere Man, which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Genius' grant from the MacArthur Foundation.Trade ReviewYou will go a long way to find anything better than this -- Edward Docx, author of Let Go My HandThere is simply more history and more drama in Hemon’s stories than in a shelf and a half of the usual dayglo Anglo-American entertainment * Guardian *Like Nabokov, Hemon writes with the startling peeled vision of the outsider, weighing words as if for the first time; he shares with Kundera an ability to find grace and humour in the bleakest of circumstances * Observer *A storyteller, funny and sad in equal measure, and always entertaining * Scotland on Sunday *Amazing. The personal fall-out of political failure has never been so searing * Time Out *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Turning
Book SynopsisTim Winton has published over twenty books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian/Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). Active in the environmental movement, he is the Patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society. He lives in Western Australia.Trade Review‘Always a writer of crystalline prose, his lines of sinewy leanness achieve such clarity here that it seems one is reading line after line of perfect music . . . To read Winton is to be reminded not just of the possibilities of fiction but of the human heart’ The Times ‘The laureate of Western Australia is back . . . this is like Carver, happily with a very large dose of Winton’ Time Out 'These stories are threaded through with subtleties and oblique connections; to be fully appreciated, they need to be read more than once. But Winton's writing – vigorous, vivid, precise – is so good that you'd want to do that anyway’ Sunday Times‘Sublime. Winton is a great writer’ Daily Mail‘Vivid, elegiac and humorous . . . and told in a relaxed prose that frequently strikes sparks’ Daily Telegraph‘Winton is marvellous at locating the small moment of crisis. His prose is leavened throughout by a kind of poetry . . . so exquisitely written, so precise in its construction, that it is a joy to read’ Sunday Telegraph‘Winton is a poet of baffled souls . . . Always a writer of crystalline prose, his lines of sinewy leanness achieve such clarity here that it seems one is reading line after line of perfect music. His unbounded humanity and his sympathy for his characters descend on them like grace as they struggle to salvage their lives’ The Times
£9.49
Random House Worlds Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures
Book Synopsis The immortal legacy of Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian, continues with this latest compendium of Howard’s fiction and poetry. These adventures, set in medieval-era Europe and the Near East, are among the most gripping Howard ever wrote, full of pageantry, romance, and battle scenes worthy of Tolstoy himself. Most of all, they feature some of Howard’s most unusual and memorable characters, including Cormac FitzGeoffrey, a half-Irish, half-Norman man of war who follows Richard the Lion-hearted to twelfth-century Palestine—or, as it was known to the Crusaders, Outremer; Diego de Guzman, a Spaniard who visits Cairo in the guise of a Muslim on a mission of revenge; and the legendary sword woman Dark Agnès, who, faced with an arranged marriage to a brutal husband in sixteenth-century France, cuts the ceremony short with a dagger thrust and flees to forge a new identity on the battlefield.Lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist John
£15.29
Random House USA Inc A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Taking place nearly a century before the events of A Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compiles the first three official prequel novellas to George R. R. Martin’s ongoing masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY LOS ANGELES TIMES AND BUZZFEED These never-before-collected adventures recount an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living consciousness. Before Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne, there was Dunk and Egg. A young, naïve but ultimately courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals—in stature if not experience. Tagging along is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg—whose true name is hidden from all he and Dunk encounter. Though more improbable heroes may not be found in all of Westeros, great destinies lay ahead for these two . . . as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits. Featuring more than 160 all-new illustrations by Gary Gianni, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a must-have collection that proves chivalry isn’t dead—yet.Praise for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms “Readers who already love Martin and his ability to bring visceral human drama out of any story will be thrilled to find this trilogy brought together and injected with extra life.”—Booklist “The real reason to check out this collection is that it’s simply great storytelling. Martin crafts a living, breathing world in a way few authors can. . . . [Gianni’s illustrations] really bring the events of the novellas to life in beautiful fashion.”—Tech Times“Stirring . . . As Tolkien has his Silmarillion, so [George R. R.] Martin has this trilogy of foundational tales. They succeed on their own, but in addition, they succeed in making fans want more.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Pure fantasy adventure, with two of the most likable protagonists George R. R. Martin has ever penned.”—Bustle “A must-read for Martin’s legion of fans . . . a rousing prelude to [his] bestselling Song of Ice and Fire saga . . . rich in human drama and the colorful worldbuilding that distinguishes other books in the series.”—Publishers Weekly
£21.50
Faber & Faber The Country Funeral
Book SynopsisFaber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles.
£6.23
Faber & Faber Ghostly Stories Faber Stories
Book SynopsisFaber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. Be sure you don't answer the door to anyone you don't know.'A little Patricia Highsmith, a touch of Shirley Jackson: the long-neglected Celia Fremlin wrote short, sharp stories that threw women's lives into shiver-inducing relief.In each of these twinned tales, a mother and daughter meet again, and an ordinary home becomes the setting for a return of the repressed.Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.
£6.14
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The House on Mango Street
Book SynopsisNew rejacketed edition of the classic of American literature. The story of a young girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago.Trade Review'Cisneros writes from the heart of a child - bluntly and truthfully ... Everyone needs this book' Los Angeles Times 'Memorable ... the voice is unmistakable' Independent 'Cisneros draws on her rich [Latino] heritage ... and seduces with precise spare prose, creating unforgettable characters we want to lift off the page. She is not only a gifted writer but an absolutely essential one' New York Times Book Review 'Marvellous ... spare yet luminous. The subtle power of Cisneros's storytelling is evident. She communicates all the rapture and rage of growing up in a modern world' San Francisco Chronicle
£9.49
Tor Books Arcanum Unbounded The Cosmere Collection
Book SynopsisFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson?creator of The Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn Saga, and countless bestselling works of science fiction and fantasy?this iconic short fiction collection features stories set across the Cosmere universe.The Stormlight Archive novella Edgedancer is the crown jewel of Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection, which includes novellas and short stories from the worlds of the Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn Saga, Elantris, and more.This collection includes:?The Hope of Elantris? (Elantris)?The Eleventh Metal? (Mistborn)?The Emperor''s Soul? (Elantris)?Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania, Episodes 28 through 30? (Mistborn)?White Sand (excerpt; Taldain)Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell? (Threnody)?Sixth of Dusk? (First of the Sun)?Mistborn: Secret History? (Mistborn)Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive)These nine wonderful works, published elsewhere individually, convey the expanse of the Cosmere and tell exciting tales of adventure Sanderson fans have come to expect, including the Hugo Award-winning novella ?The Emperor''s Soul? and an excerpt from the graphic novel White Sand.Finally, this collection includes essays and illustrations for the various planetary systems in which the stories are set.Other Tor books by Brandon SandersonThe CosmereThe Stormlight Archive? The Way of Kings? Words of Radiance? Edgedancer (novella)? Oathbringer? Dawnshard (novella)? Rhythm of War? Wind and TruthThe Mistborn SagaThe Original Trilogy? Mistborn? The Well of Ascension? The Hero of AgesWax and Wayne? The Alloy of Law? Shadows of Self? The Bands of Mourning? The Lost MetalOther Cosmere novels? Elantris? Warbreaker? Tress of the Emerald Sea? Yumi and the Nightmare Painter? The Sunlit ManThe Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series? Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians? The Scrivener''s Bones? The Knights of Crystallia? The Shattered Lens? The Dark Talent? Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (with Janci Patterson)Other novels? The Rithmatist? Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds? The Frugal Wizard?s Handbook for Surviving Medieval EnglandOther books by Brandon SandersonThe Reckoners? Steelheart? Firefight? CalamitySkyward? Skyward? Starsight? Cytonic? Skyward Flight (with Janci Patterson)? Defiant
£28.49
Perseus-Avalon Travel Publishi The Notebook The Proof the Third Lie Three
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£13.99
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group The Complete Stories
Book SynopsisBringing together all of Kafka''s stories including those released during his lifetime and others after his death, a complete anthology offers insight into his valuable literary contributions. Reprint.
£13.77
New Directions Publishing Corporation Counternarratives
Book SynopsisNow in paperback, a bewitching collection of stories and novellas that are “suspenseful, thought-provoking, mystical, and haunting” (Publishers Weekly)Trade Review"Counternarratives is an extraordinary work of literature. John Keene is a dense, intricate, and magnificent writer." -- Christine Smallwood - Harper’s"Of the scope of William T. Vollmann or Samuel R. Delany, but with a kaleidoscopic intuition all its own, Counternarratives is very easily one of the most vividly imagined and vitally timed books of the year. I haven’t felt so refreshed in quite a while as a reader." -- Blake Butler - Vice"Keene exerts superb control over his stories, costuming them in the style of Jorge Luis Borges. Yet he preserves the undercurrent of excitement and pathos that accompanies his characters’ persecution and their groping toward freedom." -- Sam Sacks - The Wall Street Journal
£12.99
Spokesman Books Satan in the Suburbs and Other Stories
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£11.03
Persephone Books Ltd Good Evening Mrs.Craven
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£16.15
St Martin's Press A Manual for Cleaning Women
Book Synopsis One of The New York Times Book Review''s Ten Best Books of 2015One of Jezebel''s Favorite Books of 2016A Manual for Cleaning Women compiles the best work of the legendary short-story writer Lucia Berlin. With the grit of Raymond Carver, the humor of Grace Paley, and a blend of wit and melancholy all her own, Berlin crafts miracles from the everyday, uncovering moments of grace in the Laundromats and halfway houses of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Bay Area upper class, among switchboard operators and struggling mothers, hitchhikers and bad Christians.Readers will revel in this remarkable collection from a master of the form and wonder how they'd ever overlooked her in the first place. Perhaps, with the present collection, Lucia Berlin will begin to gain the attention she deserves. -Lydia Davis
£12.00
Simon & Schuster Ltd Escape to Darling Cove
Book SynopsisPerfect for fans of Cathy Bramley and Katie Fforde. Originally published as novellas, this paperback contains all fours parts of the story from irresistible beginning to heart-warming conclusion. Eve has always lived on Ennisfarne, an idyllic island just off the coast of Northumberland and only accessible when tides are low. There she runs a bar overlooking Darling Cove, a heavenly horseshoe-shaped beach named after her seafaring ancestors, whose links to the Farne Islands stretch back centuries. Logan is a famous photographer desperate to evade the limelight after a difficult break-up. Renting a cottage from Eve, he chooses Ennisfarne in the hope of anonymity but is immediately spellbound by its natural beauty. The pair don’t get off to the best start, butting heads over Eve’s adorable but boisterous Chocolate Labrador. But when Logan's true identity is revealed, Eve realises her new tenant isn’t quite the man she Trade Review‘A tender heart-warming read’ Woman’s Own
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd The Complete Short Stories
Book SynopsisThe Complete Short Stories of Roald Dahl in the first of two unsettling and sinister volumes.''They are brutal, these stories, and yet you finish reading each one with a smile, or maybe even a hollow laugh, certainly a shiver of gratification, because the conclusion always seems so right'' Charlie Higson, from his introduction.Roald Dahl is one of the most popular writers of the modern age, effortlessly writing for children and adults alike. In this, the first of two volumes chronologically collecting all his published adult short stories, we see how Dahl began by using his experiences in the war to write fiction but quickly turned to his powerful and dark imagination to pen some of the most unsettling and disquieting tales ever written.In 27 stories, written between 1944 and 1953, we encounter such classic tales as ''Man from the South'', featuring a wager with appalling consequences; ''Lamb to the Slaughter'', in which a wife murders her
£13.49
Pan Macmillan Three Moments of an Explosion Stories
Book SynopsisThe multi-award-winning China Miéville has been called 'the equal of David Mitchell or Zadie Smith' (Scotland on Sunday), a writer whose 'inventiveness and precision is awesome' (Independent), and who writes with 'an imagination of immense power' (Guardian).In these twenty-eight short stories, glistening icebergs float above urban horizons; a burning stag runs wild through the city; the ruins of industry emerge unsteadily from the sea; and the abandoned generations in a decayed space-elevator look not up at the stars but down at the Earth. Ranging from portraits of childhood to chilling ghost stories, from dystopian visions to poignant evocations of uncanny love, with beautiful prose and melancholy wit, Three Moments of an Explosion is a breath-taking collection that poses searching questions of what it is to be human in an unquiet world. It is a humane and unsentimental investigation of our society, our world, and ourselves.Trade ReviewYou can't talk about Miéville without using the word "brilliant" . . . The writing, never less than excellent, takes many tones throughout the 28 stories, some showy, some not. Pastiche, when present, is so skilful that it can go unnoticed. Subjects of real weight are handled with unobtrusive ease but never glibly nor diminished by facetiousness . . . Fascinating, full of suggestion and implication, and beautiful. -- Ursula K. Le Guin * Guardian *If anyone doubted whether China Miéville had imagination to burn, proof of his indefatigable creative restlessness is to be found in this collection of short stories . . . This is a bumper collection overflowing with new visions of our beautiful, terrible world. -- Claire Allfree * Metro *Miéville . . . is gifted with an incomparable visionary imagination. In tale after tale in Three Moments of an Explosion you'll find a conceit so unusual, so disturbing, so arresting, that it takes your breath away. -- James Lovegrove * Financial Times *A gathering of dark nuggets of genius . . . Miéville is one of our most important writers, and this collection demonstrates his versatility and powerful imagination to stunning effect. -- David Barnett * Independent on Sunday *[A] fearsomely intelligent collection. * Daily Telegraph *The master of the New Weird. * Guardian *Award winner Miéville (Embassytown) moves effortlessly among realism, fantasy, and surrealism . . . His characters, whether ordinary witnesses to extraordinary events or lunatics operating out of inexplicable compulsions, are invariably well drawn and compelling. Above all, what the stories have in common is a sense that the world is not just strange, but stranger than we can ever really comprehend * Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review) *This collection fizzes with energy and experiment . . . When you put the book down, the world seems a richer, deeper and more frightening place. -- Tim Martin * New Statesman *Horror, noir, fantasy, politics, and poetry swirl into combinations as satisfying intellectually as they are emotionally. Miéville (Railsea, 2012, etc.) has a habit of building his narratives by taking a metaphor, often about a political or social issue, and asking what would happen if it were literally true . . . In less-capable hands, this method might result in mere gags or dead horses endlessly beaten. (Good thing this isn't a Miéville story, or you'd be wiping off bits of rotten horseflesh.) In Miéville's hands it ranges from clever to profound . . . Bradbury meets Borges, with Lovecraft gibbering tumultuously just out of hearing * Kirkus (Starred Review) *The 28 stories in China Mìéville's Three Moments of on Explosion . . . are familiarly strange, full of eloquent monstrosity. A burning stag runs through a city, icebergs float over towns. Miéville's vision has a fragmentary force, and this mosaic text does it proud. * New Scientist *Miéville - twice winner of the British Fantasy Award and three times winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award - is head and shoulders above other writers in this genre. * The Times *There is a baroque extravagance to China Miéville's imagination that is uniquely suited to a collection of short fiction . . . The rigour of his sentences, his thinking, his politics and humanity transform these set-ups from the merely eerie to the profoundly unsettling. -- Stuart Kelly * Times Literary Supplement *
£9.89
Simon & Schuster Ltd Im Sticking with You
Book SynopsisShortlisted for Oscar's Book Prize 2021 Shortlisted for Children's Illustrated Book of the Year at The British Book Awards 2021 'A wonderful, warm bear-hug of a story with sumptuous illustrations. A modern classic.' - Jim Field, illustrator of Oi FrogWherever you're going, I'm going too. Whatever you're doing, I'm sticking with you. It's wonderful to have good friends to see you through the good times and the bad. But sometimes, friends can also be a bit . . . well . . . overbearing. This completely irresistible rhyming text by Smriti Halls is perfectly complemented by artwork from fantastic new picture book illustrator, Steve Small.
£6.99
Adams Media Corporation Faerie Knitting: 14 Tales of Love and Magic
Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman and master knitter Lisa Hoffman comes Faerie Knitting, a magical melding of words and yarn where the ordinary is turned into the extraordinary and where imagination becomes creation.The magic of storytelling and the magic of knitting—woven together in 14 original patterns inspired by each story. “How fairy tales are told and remembered has a great deal in common with knitting traditions. It is no mistake that we describe storytelling as knitting a tale, or weaving a story, or spinning a yarn.”—Alice Hoffman, from the Introduction of Faerie Knitting Featuring fourteen original fairy tales, Faerie Knitting is an entrancing collection of stories of love and loss, trust and perseverance. Seamlessly woven into the plot of each tale is a magical garment or accessory inspired by the bravery and self-reliance of the tale’s heroine and brought to life through an imaginative and bespoke knit pattern. From the Blue Heron Shawl and the Love Never Ending Cowl, to the Three Wishes Mittens and Amulet Necklace, each project is as wearable as it is magical. Lush, atmospheric photography captures the enchanted faerie domain while beautifully rendered charts and instructions are well suited for beginner and advanced knitters alike. Presented in an elegant linen case with foil accents that evoke the fairy tale tradition, Faerie Knitting is a rare gift for creators—and lovers—of magic.Trade Review“A beautiful book that takes flight and transports knitting to a magical place. I was enchanted by it all.” -- —Nicky Epstein, knitwear designer and author of Nicky Epstein’s Knitted Flowers; Knitting on the Edge; Knitting Over the Edge; and Knitting Beyond the Edge“The Hoffmans have invited us to enter a magical world where adventures are enchanting, mysteries abound, and knitting projects and dreams come true.” -- Shirley Paden, knitwear designer and author of Knitwear Design Workshop“Faerie Knitting celebrates how stories and knitting can work their magic and save our lives. From the first page, I was enchanted.” -- Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle and editor of Knitting Yarns and Knitting Pearls“What a lovely gift, especially for the dreamy knitter as comfortable in the world of fantasy as she is in the world of wool.” * Vogue Knitting *"In this unusual volume, bestselling novelist Alice Hoffman and knitwear designer Lisa Hoffman take knitting into the worlds of fairy tale, magic, and fantasy. I … was intrigued by the imaginative ferment of these creative cousins. (Also: the knitting designs are beautiful.)" * Mason Dixon Knitting *"Like something … from under the Christmas Tree." * Knitting I Love (YouTube) *"The stories tell of the power of women and power of knitting, the magic of making and storytelling in ways that many knitters — and writers who knit, and knitters who write — will find familiar. It’s an interesting concept and the stories and knitting patterns are enjoyable alone and in combination." * Craft Gossip *"The book is beautifully photographed … with easy to navigate charts, guides, and diagrams to make things extra helpful. One thing I love about this book is the sheer variety of projects … Each story in the book blends nicely with the accompanying project and reads just like a classic storybook … feels like a special vintage book. One of my favorite projects from the book is … the Blue Heron Shawl, which also graces the cover. I'm such a shawl fanatic and this one is absolutely exquisite." * Fiber Flux *"When Alice Hoffman – the Alice Hoffman … releases a new book with her cousin, master knitter Lisa Hoffman, you sit up and pay attention … With patterns like the ‘Amulet Necklace’ and ‘Witch Gloves,’ it’s just in time for Halloween. Perhaps weaving patterns from the Hoffman cousins’ book may be just the thing to unspool a bout of writer’s block this winter." * Writer Magazine *"This book is a delightful collaboration …with strong girls and women at their center. The patterns and stories mesh wonderfully each enriching the other to create a timeless collection. The photography lifts the book to an otherworldly realm, full of mist and magic. This is an imaginative book that can be used to knit or read some enchantment into your life." * Knitty.com *"Faerie Knitting is a beautiful book, lavish. Alice Hoffman … knows her way around spells and enchantments. Faerie Knitting inhabits the timeless, nameless country we expect from traditional tales ... .Her heroines solve problems, fight enemies, and find love ... and better still, the stories tap into perennial fears and hopes that also feel extremely timely … these women are concerned with far more than the arrival of a prince. The textile arts … are natural and necessary aspects of magical tales. All the stories are set in, or include, the natural landscape. The colors and yarns she selects evoke wood and garden … motifs cleverly echo the storytelling. The effect is beautifully disorienting ... quite dramatic. It’s a fine book, Faerie Knitting. This is one that will sit near my knitting and reading chair for quite some time." * Mason Dixon Knitting *As featured in the 2018 Buzzfeed Holiday Gift Guide for Knitters * Buzzfeed *“Brilliant… the perfect book for lovers of books and of knitting.” * Bookstr *
£18.60
Pan Macmillan Manhattan in Reverse
Book SynopsisAcross seven original tales from master of science fiction Peter F. Hamilton, Manhattan in Reverse offers captivating glimpses into incredible worlds – with characters old and new.'Each short story has enough ideas for a whole novel' – Ken Follett, author of The Pillars of the EarthFollowing the events of Judas Unchained, Paula Myo returns. In the title story Manhattan in Reverse, the detective is on the case of a species believed to be without sentience – until it attacks the human colonisers. And, in The Demon Trap, Paula is dispatched to investigate a terrorist attack – and a motive that will be hard to unravel. Elsewhere, Watching Trees Grow tells of a murder in an alternative 1800s Oxford, and The Forever Kitten raises questions of eternal youth – and the sacrifices required to pursue it.With all his usual brilliantly conceived storytelling, Peter F. Hamilton’s talents are on full display in Manhattan in Reverse.Trade ReviewA rare collection from one of sci-fi’s more engaging storytellers -- Sunday TelegraphHamilton is often associated with space operas unusual even in that genre for both scale and mass; one of the best stories here, “Watching Trees Grow”, depicts the human race’s expansion out from its home world as the background to an immortal Javert’s inexorable solution to a whodunit. He also usefully reminds us that it is possible for people of somewhat conservative views to be humane; the title story is an effective puzzle concluding in a moral point that does not only apply to alien planets -- TLSThe collection’s highpoint is the excelled novella “Watching Tress Grow”, set in an alternate reality in which Rome never fell and most citizens are immortal -- GuardianIf you’re looking for a collection of truly well-written and engaging short science fiction stories, then Manhattan in Reverse is a great read -- SciFiNowWith all his usual imagination for futuristic technology, complexity of character and brilliantly conceived storytelling Peter F. Hamilton shows through this collection of work what it is that makes him Britain's number one science fiction writer . . . Peter F. Hamilton is at the top of his game and this short story collection just reinforces that fact. If you are a fan you will absolutely love this collection, but newcomers will find this an excellent introduction to his work without having to commit to a full-length novel. Highly recommended -- WordsinInkThe stories here show many of Peter’s strengths, highlighting key human themes in a variety of different settings in an entertaining way. There are those great ideas, still: super-technology, evolution, planets connected by wormholes, alien biology and habits. However, here the typical widescreen baroque of those larger epic narratives have been replaced by something a little more focused and intimate, but these are still engaging and fun -- SFFWorld
£8.54
Pan Macmillan Evening in Paradise: More Stories
Book SynopsisThe chance to join 'the Revival of the Great Lucia Berlin' (New York Times)From the author of A Manual for Cleaning Women.Ranging from Texas, to Chile, to New Mexico and New York, in Evening in Paradise Berlin writes about the good, the bad and everything in between: struggling young mothers, husbands who pack their bags and leave in the middle of the night, wives looking back at their first marriage from the distance of their second . . .The publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin’s dazzling collection of short stories, marked the rediscovery of a writer whose talent had gone unremarked by many. The incredible reaction to Lucia’s writing – her ability to capture the beauty and ugliness that coexist in everyday lives, the extraordinary honesty and magnetism with which she draws on her own history to breathe life into her characters – included calls for her contribution to American literature to be as celebrated as that of Raymond Carver.Evening in Paradise is a careful selection from Lucia Berlin’s remaining stories – a jewel-box follow-up for her hungry fans.Trade ReviewWonderful . . . Brilliant * Times *[Evening in Paradise] shines with compassion and dark wit . . . raw, elliptical, devilishly funny tales. * Observer *A writer of tender, chaotic and careworn short stories. Her work can remind you of Raymond Carver's or Grace Paley's or Denis Johnson's . . . One thing that makes Berlin so valuable is her gift for evoking the sweetness and earnestness of young women who fall in love . . . Berlin probably deserved a Pulitzer Prize. -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *A fearless storyteller . . . [Berlin's] work is testimony to a kaleidoscopic life that would scare the sh*t out of most writers alive today. I adore her. -- Eli Goldstone, author of Strange Heart BeatingLucia Berlin is a genius and the swerves of her sentences sublime. -- Lucy CaldwellThank god for the posthumous revival of Lucia Berlin – how sad it would be to have never experienced her distinctive, vibrant voice . . . utterly captivating. * Buzzfeed (Best Books of Fall 2018) *Berlin’s stories, largely autobiographical tales of working class life in the American West, slipped beneath the radar in her lifetime but galvanized contemporary readers. Now we have a second, smaller volume that is every bit as good as its predecessor. If you’ve never read Berlin, now’s your chance. * Newsday *Berlin . . . is a master at capturing women in states of disintegration: those who are being damaged, physically or emotionally, by men; those who are immersed in scandal or disdained by society; and those who are intentionally self-destructing. Her oeuvre contains, among lots of other things, a profound record of what shame, trauma, and hanging on by your fingernails looked like on a particular woman—or a particular kind of woman—half a century ago. * Atlantic *Wonderful . . . Berlin’s writing achieves a dreamy, delightful effect as it provides a look back through time. This collection should further bolster Berlin’s reputation as one of the strongest short story writers of the 20th century. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Blessedly, a second volume with 22 more stories is in no way second rate but rather features more seductive, sparkling autofiction with narrators whose names echo the author's in settings and situations that come from her roller-coaster biography . . . No dead author is more alive on the page than Berlin: funny, dark, and so in love with the world. * Kirkus (starred review) *Any publication of hers is a major cause for celebration, as far as I’m concerned. -- Maggie O’Farrell * Guardian, Best summer books 2018 *[Berlin's] spare evocative language and lithe turn of phrase make each phrase quietly extraordinary. * The Scotsman *In Evening in Paradise – which reads like novel-in-stories—Berlin shows that she was a master of the short story . . . This book is so transportative, so wonderful. -- Favourite Books of 2018 * LitHub *There’s always an audacious humour and humanity to [Berlin's] writing. * Red *Berlin expertly balances beauty and bleakness, and finds drama, joy or revelation in humdrum experiences . . . Berlin once again makes original art from her chequered life . . . When the words flowed, Berlin managed to perform small miracles with them. * Economist *You might assume that these represent the crumbs from the table, the ones not good enough to make the first volume, but that’s not the case . . . you can’t keep a good stylist down, and an authentic voice begins to come through. -- John Self * Irish Times *Lucia Berlin writes in colour. Not wishy-washy pastels, or hues described with copious adjectives, but instead saturated colour . . . Berlin looks for other ways to think about women’s lives, freed from simple explanations. * TLS *Berlin’s fiction subtly complicates what it meant to be an American in the latter half of the last century . . . The stories in Evening in Paradise, Berlin’s second posthumous collection, are filled again with shabby rooms and shabbier lives . . . There is no wallowing, no bathos. Instead there is an acute and varied awareness of the meaning of America, both at home and in the world. * Guardian *More marvellous musical stories from Lucia Berlin who has an eye for the unexpected loveliness in ordinary lives as vivid, vital, impulsive women pitch themselves into the merry, melancholy, messy business of living. * Sunday Express *There is something withholding about the way she mixes minimalism with excess that keeps those of us with the taste for it coming back . . . Berlin’s gifts are not ones you have ever tried or been told to cultivate. The details she chooses are those you have purposely eliminated, with that hitch in your ear that tells you to keep everything timeless . . . It’s the reason I felt so resentful at first to be shut out, because the intimacy on offer was so great. -- Patricia Lockwood * London Review of Books *Berlin is not only a soulful chronicler of the lost corners of America, whose semi-autobiographical stories brim with red caliche clay, arroyos, drainage ditches and smelter towns. She is not only a writer of vivid bursts of language . . . She is also a distinctly female voice, a raspy Marlene Dietrich. * New York Times Book Review *There’s still plenty in Evening in Paradise to conjure the original thrill of reading Berlin. * Financial Times *Long before the current autofiction craze, Lucia Berlin was spinning her day-to-day into powerfully spare prose that ached with brutal authenticity . . . these new volumes become a jigsaw-puzzle portrait of a long-neglected literary legend, baring the autobiographical material that filtered so forcefully into her fiction. The mystery of her fiction is not, it turns out, in the source of its inspiration. It is in how Berlin transformed her life into art that is as vital as the thing itself. * Vogue *[Evening in Paradise] reveals just how full a body of rich work Berlin left behind . . . Time and again, the stories reveal that her subject wasn’t domestic life but life itself, which for her often happened to be filtered through the domestic. * Los Angeles Times *What molds the fiction is Berlin’s artistic sensibility ? her global perspective, the shrewd compassion with which she scrutinizes her characters, and the absurdity ? not to mention the flora ? that populates the many landscapes of her world. * San Francisco Chronicle *This never-before-published memoir and new collection are cause for jubilation. In part because they make it clear Berlin's gifts were vast, complex, and full of tonal warmths . . . Like Chekhov, Berlin was a beautiful framer of stories. * Boston Globe *Prepare to fall in love all over again . . . the cunning, beautiful creation of a genius of the form. * NYLON *Table of ContentsUnit - 1: The Musical Vanity Boxes Unit - 2: Sometimes in Summer Unit - 3: Andado: A Gothic Romance Unit - 4: Dust to Dust Unit - 5: Itinerary Unit - 6: Lead Street, Albuquerque Unit - 7: Noël. Texas. 1956 Unit - 8: The Adobe House with a Tin Roof Unit - 9: A Foggy Day Unit - Cherry Blossom Time: 10 Unit - 11: Evening in Paradise Unit - 12: La Barca de la Ilusión Unit - 13: My Life Is an Open Book Unit - 14: The Wives Unit - 15: Noël, 1974 Unit - 16: The Pony Bar, Oakland Unit - 17: Daughters Unit - 18: Rainy Day Unit - 19: Our Brother’s Keeper Unit - 20: Lost in the Louvre Unit - 21: Luna Nueva Unit - 22: Sombra
£9.49
Andrews McMeel Publishing The Fox's Tower and Other Tales: A Collection of
Book Synopsis“Locus Award winner Lee (Phoenix Extravagant) takes on the folktale form in a collection of 25 gorgeous, magical stories, tiny jewels of worldbuilding that tap into mythic themes to feel somehow both ancient and delightfully fresh… The result is breathtaking in its playful grace." —Publisher’s Weekly Starred ReviewEnter a world of magic and myth, where foxes fall in love and robots build their own dragons. In The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales, New York Times bestselling author Yoon Ha Lee crafts together short and moving stories of love, adventure, magic, and nature. With poetic language and intricate world building, readers will be whisked away to a different adventure with every new story. Full of fascinating creatures and LGBT+ romances, this flash fiction collection combines the classic with the contemporary in Yoon’s captivating style.
£9.49
MacAdam/Cage Publishing The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure
Book SynopsisYou''ve met the characters in "The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure". They are the quirky visionaries and misguided dreamers we all know... and might even be. From the self-appointed historian of the title story to the frustrated wage slaves of "Our Spring Catalog" and "The Pipe" these are individualists far removed from mainstream ideals. Pendarvis draws his humour from the world of high school ambitions and misunderstood intentions allowed to blossom and grow. Always original but somehow familiar, these are stories plugged into the collec-tive unconscious of our imaginary lives. Infusing his laugh-out-loud funny stories with an underlying humanity, Pendarvis is a comedic literary talent of the highest calibre.
£8.99
Canongate Books Revenge of the Lawn: Stories 1962-1970
Book SynopsisRevenge of the Lawn is Richard Brautigan in miniature and contains no fewer than 62 ultra-short stories set mainly in Tacoma, Washington (where the author grew up) and in the flower-powered San Francisco of the late fifties and early sixties. In their compacted form, which ranges from the murderously short 'The Scarlatti Tilt' to one-page wonders like the sexually poignant poetry of 'An Unlimited Supply of 35 Millimetre Film', Brautigan's stories take us into a world where his fleeting glimpses of everyday strangeness leave stories and characters resonating in our heads long after they're gone.Trade ReviewHe was an absolute original who found cause for celebration in the most unlikely places. * * Guardian * *His writing manages to conjure up a feeling of relaxation and well-being, somehow existing in our reality without being touched by it - easy to fall into and over far too soon. After reading this you'll feel like you've been on holiday with a friend * * Time Out * *The verbal humour and zany charm of the book remain quite irresistible. * * Daily Telegraph * *Charming . . . the stories have memorable or beautifully handled moments of observation * * London Review of Books * *
£9.49
Granta Books Things We Lost in the Fire
Book SynopsisThe debut collection from the acclaimed author of The Dangers of Smoking in Bed and Our Share of Night. 'An utterly brilliant measure of deep existential terror... You [will] return home looking pale and haunted' Observer Sleep-deprived fathers conjuring phantoms; sharp-toothed children and stolen skulls; persecuted young women drawn to self-immolation. Organized crime sits side-by-side with the occult in Buenos Aires - a place where reality and the supernatural fuse into strange, new shapes. These acclaimed gothic tales follow the wayward and downtrodden, revealing the scars of Argentina's dictatorship and the ghosts and traumas that have settled in the minds of its people. Provocative, brutal and uncanny, Things We Lost in the Fire is contemporary gothic at its darkest and best. 'The only book that's ever left me afraid to turn out the lights... mercilessly incisive and deeply creepy' Irish Times 'Books of the Year' 'These spookily clear-eyed, elementally intense stories are the business' Helen OyeyemiTrade ReviewBright with brilliance... The stories [create] a sensibility as distinctive as that found in Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son. They are a portrait of a world in fragments, a mirrorball made of razor blades -- John Self * Guardian *An utterly brilliant measure of deep existential terror ... you [will] return home looking pale and haunted -- ‘Best Summer Books’ selected by Mark O’Connell * Observer *Slim but phenomenal... The spookiness of these 12 stories sets into the reader's mind like a jet stone, sparkling through all that darkness * Vanity Fair *The only book that's ever left me afraid to turn out the lights... mercilessly incisive and deeply creepy -- ‘Books of the Year’ selected by Lisa McInerney * Irish Times *Fiction doesn't get much better than this -- John Ajvide Lindqvist, author * Let the Right One In *Teeming with death, sex and the macabre, this short-story collection by one of Argentina's rising literary talents might best be described as Buenos Aires gothic -- Best Summer Books * Financial Times *[Full of] claustrophobic terror... stylish and compelling -- Luke Brown * Financial Times *Propulsive and mesmerising... I will be haunted for some time by this book * New York Times Book Review *Enríquez is a mesmerizing writer who demands to be read... her fiction hits with the force of a freight train -- Dave Eggers, author * The Circle *Beautiful but savage... [Enriquez] gives the best horror stories a run for their money... This is the best short story collection I have read this year -- Lucy Scholes * National *An utterly brilliant measure of deep existential terror ... you [will] return home looking pale and haunted -- Best Summer Reads * Guardian *Exquisite... unsettling and haunting... engaging and compelling * New Internationalist *These spookily clear-eyed, elementally intense stories are the business. I find myself no more able to defend myself from their advances than Enríquez's funny, brutal, bruised characters are able to defend themselves from life as it's lived -- Helen Oyeyemi, author * Boy, Snow, Bird *It seems wrong, somehow to call this grouping of Mariana Enríquez's stories a collection. There is nothing collected about these stories. These stories unsettle; they disturb; they disquiet. Read them! -- Kelly Link, author * Get in Trouble *Many of us have long looked up to Mariana Enríquez, one of the great talents of the new literature from Argentina. Possibly the most intimate one. Her writing is a prodigious blend which reimagines certain traditions under that dreadful clarity we identify as an author's voice. Sharp and intricate, her genre awareness is deserving of nothing but my admiration. Sharing her work is great cause for celebration -- Andrés NeumanWhen I read Mariana Enríquez's stories, I forget where I am. I miss my subway stop. I hold my breath. Her fiction is that pulse-racingly superb, that electric and original. Mariana Enríquez is an essential voice in contemporary fiction, and The Things We Lost in the Fire will be a sensation -- Laura van den Berg, author * Find Me *Enriquez's stories are not only supremely important, but addictive and joyfully grotesque... Born from the scars of a nation, they will leave a lasting mark on you -- Alan Bett * Skinny *Gripping * Monocle *Enriquez scratches satisfyingly at Argentina's underbelly * Newsweek *A detailed cultural portrait and a blend of realistic fiction and fantasy, the stories feature spirits and murders, marriages happy and sad, friendships and heartaches, all against the backdrop of past and present Argentina... The author picks apart the intricacies of human relationships and lays them out on the page in a manner that is simple, but delicate...A thorough exploration of the human condition, -- Alice Kouzmenko * Storgy Online *
£9.49
Granta Books Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
Book SynopsisA man is thrown out of his home after his wife discovers that the sweat-smudged footprint on the inside of his windscreen doesn't match her own. Teenage cousins, drugged by summer, meet with a reckoning in the woods. A boy runs off to the carnival after his stepfather bites him in a brawl. In the stories of Wells Tower, families fall apart and messily, hilariously try to reassemble themselves. His characters - marauding Vikings, washed-up entrepreneurs and jobbing hacks on local papers - are adrift from the mainstream, confused by contemporary masculinity, angry and aimless. Combining electric prose with compassion and dark wit, this is a major debut.Trade ReviewTower's prose is muscular and poetic with an almost vertiginous momentum and his characters teeter on the brink of emotional collapse ... This is a collection that, for once, lives up to the hype. Watch out for Wells * Sunday Times *Short stories exploring love, violence and the fear that has us lying, eyes open, in the dark. An extraordinary debut and a sensitive, surprising voice * The Times Review *Reading them, you are reminded of how Richard Ford, a master of the craft, once proposed the quality of "audacity" as the defining characteristic of perfect short stories, suggesting that they were always "the high-wire act of literature". In this sense, Tower certainly makes you crane your neck * Observer *Like David Foster Wallace, Tower taps into what lies beneath, often comically. There are dazzling points of light and compassion in the darkness * Independent on Sunday *The failed American dream is frequently picked over in literature, but this debut collection of short stories will make you feel you've never read about it before ... the disarming honesty and startling imagery make each tale an intense, articulate and near-tangible nugget of cultural disaffection * Sunday Telegraph *Stories from modern America - angry young men, mellow young men, troubled teenage girls, sons visiting demented fathers - by an edgy, ultra-realist young writer. * The Times *Towers is an original, with an extraordinary way with words * The Times *
£11.69
