Anthologies & Short Stories

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA. 'In this collection, Daphne du Maurier's peerless craftmanship, her eerie sense of the macabre, her gift for sheer story telling come to full fruition' KIRKUS REVIEWS'She wrote exciting plots ... a writer of fearless originality' PATRICK MCGRATH, GUARDIAN 'The appeal of romance and the clash of highly-charged emotions' NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE 'The apathy of Sunday lay upon the streets. Houses were closed, withdrawn."They don't know," he thought, "those people inside, how one gesture of mine, now, at this minute, might alter their world. A knock on the door, and someone answers - a woman yawning, an old man in carpet slippers, a child sent by its parents in irritation; and according to what I will, what I decide, their whole future will be decided . . . Sudden murder. Theft. Fire." It was as simple as that.'In this collection of suspenseful tales in which fantasies, murderous dreams and half-forgotten worlds are exposed, Daphne du Maurier explores the boundaries of reality and imagination. Her characters are caught at those moments when the delicate link between reason and emotion has been stretched to the breaking point. Often chilling, sometimes poignant, these stories display the full range of Daphne du Maurier's considerable talent.Trade ReviewIn this collection, Daphne du Maurier's peerless craftmanship, her eerie sense of the macabre, her gift for sheer story telling come to full fruition * Kirkus Reviews *She wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense, and she was, too, a writer of fearless originality * Guardian *The appeal of romance and the clash of highly-charged emotions * New York Herald Tribune *Disconcerting, strange, but extraordinarily gripping stories' Val Hennessy -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *'Disconcerting, strange, but extraordinarily gripping stories' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail -- Val Hennessy

Read more less

Book SynopsisA construction worker is chased through the night by a shady local businessman whose dog he has stolen; a Wild West re-enactor is engaged in a long-running affair with the Indian 'squaw' who slays him on the battlefield every year; a boy is tasked by his father to rid the farm of cats. Playing out against the rugged backdrop of the untamed West, these stories are populated by characters who are toughened by life but still tender enough to bleed, to cry, to care, and to dream. With its taut plotting and calloused sensibility, Dog Run Moon is written deep in the American grain, and yet Callan Wink's humour, empathy and layered storytelling creates a fictional world entirely his own. This remarkable debut reminds you just how effortlessly powerful good writing can be.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'I look at all of Carver's work as just one story, for his stories are all occurences, all about things that just happen to people and cause their lives to take a turn... In formulating the mosaic of the film Short Cuts, which is based on these nine stories and a poem, 'Lemonade', I've tried to do the same thing- to give the audience one look... But it all began here. I was a reader turning these pages. Trying on these lives' - Robert Altman in his introduction.Trade ReviewRaymond Carver's stories can be counted amongst the masterpieces of American fiction * New York Times *The stories overflow with danger, excitement, mystery and the possibility of life... His eye is so clear it almost breaks your heart * Washington Post *One of America's most original, truest voices -- Salman RushdieSuperb -- Ian McEwan

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn anthology of the greatest stories by modern Japanese masters (including previously overlooked women writers)!Fourteen distinct voices are assembled in this one-of-a-kind anthology tracing a nation's changing social landscapes. Internationally renowned writers like Yasunari Kawabata, Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Junichi Watanabe are joined by three notable women writers whose works have not yet received sufficient attention—Kanoko Okamoto, Fumiko Hayashi and Yumiko Kurahashi.Highlights of this anthology include: Kafu Nagai's bittersweet portrait of a privileged family's expiring existence in "The Fox" Ango Sakaguchi's heartening celebration of postwar chaos in "One Woman and the War" Fumiko Hayashi's unabashed exploration of female sexuality in "Borneo Diamond" Junichi Watanabe's chilling assessment of alienation and social dislocation in "Invitation to Suicide" Gishu Nakayama's look at an out-of-place prostitute recovering at a hot-spring resort in "Autumn Wind" Through brilliant, highly-praised translations by Lane Dunlop, The Best Japanese Short Stories offers fascinating glimpses of a society embracing change while holding tenaciously onto the past. A new foreword by Alan Tansman provides insightful back stories about the authors and the literary backdrop against which they created these great works of modern world literature.Trade Review"Lane Dunlop's translations read elegantly, and his selection of modern Japanese Stories is both fresh and persuasive." --Donald Keene, Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature"None of the stories are very long, but all of them are worth reading. […] they rarely follow plot lines, and few have what might be called a satisfying ending. Instead, each story whispers away, leaving a feeling of loss and contemplation, and mournful beauty." --Zack Davisson"The beauty of Tuttle's new edition of The Best Japanese Short Stories, translated by Lane Dunlop, is that readers can take what they like from it. Here are tales with the simplicity of Hemingway and the intellectual heft of David Foster Wallace, set in places and historical moments too many of us have never explored…" --Book & Film Globe,The Best Japanese Short Stories: Hauntingly Splendid--New collection captures the tensions of a society in flux

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this rib-tickling anthology, Ruskin Bond brings together funny stories, humourous articles and comic verse. These hilarious encountersfrom a lunatic who escapes the asylum to watch a cricket match to a goat that goes berserk in a posh drawing roomwritten by renowned humourists such as Stephen Leacock, Jerome K. Jerome, C.A. Kincaid and, of course, Ruskin Bond himself, are guaranteed to make you smile, chuckle, snort, giggle and laugh out loud!

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe magical tales in The Whispering Trees capture the essence of life, death and coincidence in Northern Nigeria. Myth and reality intertwine in stories featuring political agitators, newly-wedded widows, and the tormented whirlwind, Kyakkyawa. The two medicine men of Mazade battle against their egos, an epidemic and an enigmatic witch. And who is Okhiwo, whose arrival is heralded by a pair of little white butterflies?

Read more less

Book SynopsisAgatha Christie’s seasonal Poirot and Marple short story collection in a new hardback special edition.Trade Review'There is irresistible simplicity and buoyancy of a Christmas treat about it all' Times Literary Supplement

Read more less

Book SynopsisA handpicked crew of dykes board the Caledonian Sleeper bound for Glasgow. A couple wrestle with gender roles when their flat inventory includes a brand new baby. A young man's world expands with possibility in Barcelona, while lust mingles with faith and celebrity in verse. Curious and provocative, sometimes domestic, sometimes otherworldly, this collection of stories, poems and memoir provides a snapshot of Scotland's queer community and LGBTI+ writing scene, and captures the variety of experiences that bind our community together.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRomantics, adventurers, sensualists, melancholics and dreamers inhabit the bizarre and exotic world conjured up in these seven intricately interwoven tales, whose settings range from Tuscany and Elsinore, to a dhow on its way from Lamu to Zanzibar.Proclaimed a masterpiece on its publication in 1934, this collection is shot through with themes of love and desire - from the maiden lady who now believes herself to have been the grand courtesan of her time, to the Count whose wife is so jealous that she cannot bear him to admire her jewels, and Lincoln Forsner, an Englishman whose search for a woman he met in a brothel leads him into many strange adventures.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWilde's short fiction includes such masterpieces as 'The Happy Prince', 'The Selfish Giant', 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime' and 'The Canterville Ghost', as well as the daring narrative experiments of 'The Portrait of Mr. W. H.' and 'Poems in Prose'. This edition shows how they continue to the enthral and challenge the reader.Trade ReviewI defy anyone to read them and be unmoved. * Emily Labram, The Observer *Table of ContentsPOEMS IN PROSE; APPENDIX

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young and adult learners of Icelandic."Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too!" - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers Short Stories in Icelandic for Beginners has been written especially for students from high-beginner to low-intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, a feeling of progress and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to A2-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading.What does this book give you?- Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary- Controlled language at your level to help you progress confidently- Realistic spoken dialogues to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability- Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way· Beautiful illustrations accompanying each story, to set the scene and support your understanding- Pleasure! Research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!'Carefully curated to make learning a new language easy, these stories include key features that will support and consolidate your progress, including: - A glossary for bolded words in each chapter- Full plot summary- A bilingual word list- Comprehension questions after each chapter. As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Icelandic for Beginners will make learning Icelandic easy and enjoyable.Trade ReviewAs researchers in language acquisition, we need to study people like you. * Stephen Krashen, Emeritus Professor, University of Southern California *Olly's advice on language learning is the real deal, and I recommend you pay attention to what he has to say! * Benny Lewis, Fluent in 3 Months *When we wanted to create a free online course on how to learn a language we asked Olly to write it with us. * Dr Tita Beaven, The Open University *Learning a language is challenging, but it's one of the best things you can do for your brain and your learning skill set... Olly Richards is doing some seriously incredible work to empower more and more people to rise to the challenge. * Jonathan Levi *Olly bridges the gap between theory and practice by helping you to use scientific principles to get real results with your language learning. * Anthony Metivier, Magnetic Memory Method *

Read more less

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.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRichard Yates was born in 1926 in New York and lived in California. His prize-winning stories began to appear in 1953 and his first novel, Revolutionary Road, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. He is the author of eight other works, including the novels A Good School, The Easter Parade, and Disturbing the Peace, and two collections of short stories, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness and Liars in Love. He died in 1992.Trade ReviewThe most perceptive author of the twentieth century * The Times *Yates is a realist par excellence, the natural heir to Hemingway's pared-to-the-bones style and the antecedent of Carver's flat minimalism. There is something else though: a kind of transparency, almost a translucency, that owes more to Fitzgerald, his great literary hero... Read and weep -- Kate Atkinson * Guardian *Yates created what is almost the New York equivalent of Dubliners * New York Times *Eloquent and powerful... Wryly funny even when he's quietly tearing your heart out * Harper's *Extravagantly gifted... Yates' eye and ear are unsurpassed; I know of no writer whose senses are in more admirable condition. It is they that make his characters live, make these stories move and beat - they, and the sure perfection of his writing * Esquire *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'How to tell the story of a 500-page collection of stories spanning more than forty years? Especially when I really want to just exclaim, "Oh, Oh, OH!" in a state of steadily mounting rapture' Geoff Dyer, Observer Williams' uniquely devastating portrayals of modern life have been captivating readers and writers for decades. Here, for the first time, Williams' thirty-three best stories are available in a single volume, together with thirteen new stories that show a writer continuing to mould the form into something strange and new. Bleak but funny, real but surreal, domestic but dangerous, familiar but enigmatic, Joy Williams' stories fray away the fabric at the edge of ordinary experience to reveal the loneliness at the heart of human life. In 'The Lover', a girl suffers a spiritual and physical wasting away; in 'The Visiting Privilege', a visitor finds refuge in her friend's psychiatric ward; in 'Charity', a woman gives a poor family gas money and finds herself marooned in their peculiar world; in 'Another Season' an itinerant man cleanses an island of roadkill; in 'Craving' an alcoholic couple head towards a car crash. The Visiting Privilege represents the culmination of Williams' career and cements her place as the most singular artist of short fiction writing today.Trade ReviewPerhaps the greatest living master of the short story ... easily taking her place among the ranks of Mavis Gallant, Flannery O'Connor, Grace Paley, John Cheever and Raymond Carver -- Neel Mukherjee * Guardian Books of the Year *Joy Williams is a stone-cold 100% American original ... a treasure trove of high-octane prose and surreal wit -- Rupert Thomson * Herald Books of the Year *An electric and dangerously human volume -- Philip Hensher * Spectator Books of the Year *The literary heir to Anton Chekhov * Washington Post *Williams is a flawless writer, and The Visiting Privilege is a perfect book * NPR *Joy Williams is simply a wonder -- Raymond CarverShe belongs in the company of Céline and Flannery O'Connor -- James SalterHow to tell the story of a 500-page collection of stories spanning more than 40 years? Especially when I really want to just exclaim, "Oh, Oh, OH!" in a state of steadily mounting rapture -- Geoff Dyer * Observer *The Visiting Privilege cements Williams's position not merely as one of the great writers of her generation, but as our pre-eminent bard of humanity's insignificance * New York Times Magazine *Powerful, important, compassionate, and full of dark humor. This is a book that will be reread with admiration and love many times over * Vanity Fair *One of the most fearless, abyss-embracing literary projects our literature has seen ... ruthless, hilarious work that holds our human folly to the fire ... you can't much pin Joy Williams down with any obvious dark masters. She is American and contemporary and strange, comfortable in the skin of domestic realism, even if that mode is a kind of misleading costume for a far more sinister project not often seen in American, or any, short fiction -- Ben Marcus * New York Times Book Review *Deep, dazzling, disconcerting -- Adam FouldsDark, funny, spare and unsparing ... wonderful ... Williams is fully alive to the tragicomedy of our transient lives. -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *Revisiting the edgy, perceptive, provocative stories of Joy Williams make The Visiting Privilege a celebration. From the opening story, 'Taking Care', Williams confirms her ironic pathos and consummate timing, and rarely falters. -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *Williams's short stories portray the edges of modern life in vivid, staccato detail and make for compelling reading. The narrative threads move forward in unpredictable, exciting and often unsettling detail. * Guardian, readers' BOTY 2016 *One of the great American short story writers -- Jay McInerneyThe bright-bleak grand master of short stories -- Lauren Groff * New Yorker *How had Joy Williams been missing from my life for so long? What a writer. What a voice. What a way of seeing. -- Laura Barnett * Twitter *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFollowing his debut, Flower Factory, Richard Foster presents a new batch of psychedelicized, autofictive fairy tales from the Netherlands. The Punk Rock Birdwatching Club introduces a diverse cast of voices, who narrate eight stories dealing with major social changes that occurred in this part of Europe during the mid-2000s.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''They didn''t seem to take much interest in my private parts which to tell the truth were nothing to write home about, I didn''t take much interest in them myself.''From the master of the absurd, these two stories of an unnamed vagrant contending with decay and death combine bleakness with the blackest of humour. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York''s underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new selection offers the most chilling and unsettling of Hodgson's short fiction, from encounters with abominations at sea to fireside tales of otherworldly forces from his inventive `occult detective' character Carnacki, the ghost finder.Table of ContentsIntroduction; `A Tropical Horror' (1905); `The Voice in the Night' (1907); 'Out of the Storm' (1908); `The Gateway of the Monster' (1910); `The Horse of the Invisible' (1910); `The Whistling Room' (1910); `The Derelict' (1912); `The Thing in the Weeds' (1916); `The Hog' (1947); `The Riven Night' (1973)

Read more less

Book SynopsisFlamboyant, theatrical and ambitious, Margaret Cavendish was one of the seventeenth century''s most striking figures: a woman who ventured into the male spheres of politics, science, philosophy and literature. The Blazing World is a highly original work: part Utopian fiction, part feminist text, it tells of a lady shipwrecked on the Blazing World where she is made Empress and uses her power to ensure that it is free of war, religious division and unfair sexual discrimination. This volume also includes The Contract, a romance in which love and law work harmoniously together, and Assaulted and Pursued Chastity, which explores the power and freedom a woman can achieve in the disguise of a man.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the Queen of Crime, the first time all of her spookiest and most macabre stories have been collected in one volume.Trade Review“It’s tempting to say that Agatha Christie is a genius and let it go at that, but the world’s had plenty of geniuses. Agatha Christie is something special.”— Lawrence Block “Agatha Christie’s books are both wonderful crime novels and studies in contrast and duality, and I adore them still. Underestimate them at your peril.”— Louise Penny “Agatha Christie taught me many important lessons about the inner workings of the mystery novel before it ever occurred to me that I might one day be writing mysteries myself.”— Sue Grafton “Any mystery writer who wants to learn how to plot should spend a few days reading Agatha Christie. She’ll show you everything you want to know.”— Donna Leon “Agatha Christie’s indelibly etched characters have entertained millions across the years and a love of her work has brought together generations of readers—a singular achievement for any author and an inspiration to writers across the literary landscape.”— Jacqueline Winspear

Read more less

Book SynopsisReynolds Price is James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University and the disinguished author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, poetry, drama and essays. He lives in North Carolina.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPhilip Hensher is a novelist, critic, librettist and short story writer. The Northern Clemency was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His most recent novel is The Emperor Waltz.Trade ReviewHensher's anthology is bigger, better and broader in several senses than anything else currently available * The Spectator *Almost 100 potent doses of the form which editor Philip Hensher claims very plausibly to be "the richest, most varied and most historically extensive national tradition anywhere in the world"... Hensher has spent a couple of years searching libraries and magazine archives and comes out staggering under a weight of treasures -- Claire Harman * Evening Standard *Like one of the legion of cantankerous, eccentric hosts we meet across this generous terrain, Hensher knows how to lay a grand spread...so enjoy the feast -- Boyd Tonkin * The Independent *Anyone reading this collection just for pleasure should start at the end of the second volume and work backwards...it would quickly bring you to four outstanding stories by women...each of these, though quickly over, leaves a lasting mark in the mind -- John Carey * The Sunday Times *Big and clever...three cheers then, for this chunky two-volume anthology, edited by Philip Hensher with imagination and a dash of mischievous wit -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * The Times *Made me shiver with pleasure -- Michele Roberts * The Financial Times *Charted a very personal view of the form's development from the early 18th century to the present day' -- Tim Martin * Telegraph *It's been a big year for anthologies and few come bigger than The Penguin Book of the British Short Story. Philip Hensher's introduction is spiky and thought-provoking and Volume I: From Daniel Defoe to John Buchan and Volume II: From P.G. Wodehouse to Zadie Smith (Penguin Classic, £25 each) offer readers the chance to enjoy the varieties and mutations of British stories across four centuries. -- Max Liu * Independent *In two handsomely designed volumes ... you have to admire Hensher's championing of unfamiliar names alongside established greats -- Neville Hawcock * FT *

Read more less

Book SynopsisKate Chopin''s groundbreaking depiction of a woman who dares to defy the expectations of society in the pursuit of her desireWhen The Awakening was first published in 1899, charges of sordidness and immorality seemed to consign it into obscurity and irreparably damage its author''s reputation. But a century after her death, it is widely regarded as Kate Chopin''s great achievement. Through careful, subtle changes of style, Chopin shows the transformation of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother, who - with tragic consequences - refuses to be caged by married and domestic life, and claims for herself moral and erotic freedom.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Trade Review"A Creole Bovary is this little novel of Miss Chopin's."--Willa Cather

Read more less

Book SynopsisA young video shop assistant exchanges the home comforts of one mother-figure for a fleeting encounter with another; a brother and sister find themselves at the bottom of a coal mine with a Japanese tourist; a Welsh stag on a debauched weekend in Dublin confesses an unimaginable truth; and a twice-widowed pensioner tries to persuade the lovely Mrs Morgan to be his date at the town''s summer festival...Set in Caerphilly, a sleepy castle town in South Wales, Thomas Morris'' debut collection reveals its treasures in unexpected ways, offering vivid and moving glimpses of the lost, lonely and bemused. By turns poignant, witty, and tender - these entertaining stories detail the lives of people who know where they are, but don''t know what they''re doing. This is the work of a young writer with a startlingly fresh voice, an uncanny ear for dialogue and a broad emotional range. We Don''t Know What We''re Doing is a major launch for the Faber fiction list in 2015.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Jaw-droppingly good'' Sinead Gleeson''Funny, poetic, heart-chilling'' Graham Norton''Terrific'' Jenny Offill''Marvellous'' Kevin Barry''Takes your breath away'' Observer''Unlike any other fiction'' IndependentThere once was ...a woman who loved her husband''s cock so much that she began taking it to work in her lunchbox.a man who made films without a camera, which transfixed his estranged daughter.a couple who administered electric shocks to each other, to be reminded of what love is.a world where you wake up one day and notice that, one by one, people are turning blue.Trade ReviewTerrific, eerie short stories that linger in your mind long after you have closed the book. * Jenny Offill, author of DEPT OF SPECULATION *Cathy Sweeney's stories have already attracted a band of fanatical devotees, and this first collection is as marvellous as we could have hoped for. A unique imagination, a brilliant debut. -- Kevin Barry, author of NIGHT BOAT TO TANGIERCathy Sweeney's work is jaw-droppingly good: inventive, funny, lush. One of the best short story writers working today. -- Sinéad Gleeson, author of CONSTELLATIONSModern Times, Cathy Sweeney's inventive debut collection, offers snapshots of an unsettling, dislocated world. Surprising and uncanny, funny and transgressive, these stories only look like distortions of reality. * Irish Times *I loved this collection. It vibrates with a glorious strangeness! Magnificently weird, hugely entertaining, deeply profound. -- Danielle McLaughlin, author of DINOSAURS ON OTHER PLANETSIn Modern Times, Cathy Sweeney gives us fables of the present that are funny, vertiginous and melancholy. -- David Hayden, author of DARKER WITH THE LIGHTS ONWith a crispness and clarity and weirdness unlike any other fiction being published now ... Sometimes chilling, eerily accessible - and as wickedly droll as they are horrifying ... The voice running through is lucid and bright and highly readable, each sentence stripped clean and polished ... The stories themselves, long-sweeping, succinctly told anatomies of spectral lives lived in sad rented places or loveless middle-class homes, are absolutely for this moment. * Irish Independent *Sweeney's stories are wacky, bold, form-bending ... Reading Modern Times is a bit like being in a strange dream ... Powerful ... Daring * Irish Times *Taut, surreal tales that take your breath away... As the first lines of short story collections go, it's pretty hard to beat the one that opens Modern Times: "There once was a woman who loved her husband's cock so much she began taking it to work in her lunchbox." This, and the darkly funny page-and-a-half (A Love Story) it kicks off, are representative of Sweeney's off-kilter sensibility. Her writing is direct, no-holds-barred; her sentences are as taut as bow strings... [it's] a breathtakingly weird book, jammed full of peculiar characters and strange scenarios. But Sweeney brings a genuine depth to her writing too, and so the collection is peppered with aphorisms ("No one ever really hears a story until they need to", "There was a subplot, but isn't there always") and probing questions: "How do you overlay words on experience and get anywhere near the feeling of the thing?" There are shades here of Angela Carter, Lydia Davis and Miranda July, but Sweeney's style is all her own. Reading this book in a single sitting feels a bit like getting giddy from eating too many Easter eggs, so moreish is each one of these stories. Modern Times announces the arrival of an unforgettable new voice in Irish fiction. * Observer *Cathy Sweeney's debut collection of short stories comes after more than a decade of publishing slick short fiction... Sweeney is a master of brevity... ['The Cheerleader' and 'A Love Story'] balance absurdist humour with profundity and are highlights of the book. Sweeney's stories stage battles of attrition... there is more than just comic relief to be found in these slantwise tales of modern times. Depression is isolating, but Sweeney's compendium of isolated voices remind us that we are not alone. * Times Literary Supplement *In its sparseness, astonishments, and cyclical twists, the fairy tale has something in common with the 20th-century European absurd, which follows funny, appalling patterns of repetition. Cathy Sweeney brings together these two traditions in her brilliant debut short story collection, Modern Times. * Catherine Toal, Irish Times *Bite-size and bittersweet, Cathy Sweeney writes miniscule short stories that are reminiscent of Beckett and Blindboy... The stories are rarely longer than two pages, and Sweeney writes fleeting, distanced snapshots, detailing absurdist impressions of modern life... Sweeney's stories come across like strange dreams and there is an element of magic realism at play * RTE *A collection of 21 dreamlike stories of varying length and form. Her offbeat rhythm scoops you up from the first word, with effortless humour and moments of palpable poignancy while ordinary people go about their daily business, relationships, break-ups, affairs, compromises, disappointments and regrets. To the naked eye, one might say the author is a surrealist, but her fable-like images only contribute to a biting truth. One of the most appealing aspects of her storytelling is that she doesn't wrap her endings up in neat little bows. They are what they are, much like life - the seams can hang loose without need of a conventional conclusion. * The Gloss *Startling... Very short, very unconventional and very strange... It opens with a shockingly unforgettable line which sets the tone for an off-kilter collection that is economical with words, but full of hard-to-define emotion. * Daily Mail *A shocking take on modern life and love... throughout there are distant echoes of writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marques, Angela Carter, Flannery O'Connor and Jonathan Swift, alongside echoes of contemporary writers such as Kristen Roupenian, Anakana Schofield and June Caldwell * The Sunday Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisNo. 1 bestselling author Stephen King's unforgettable novella - first included in his 1990, award-winning collection Four Past Midnight and made into a highly acclaimed miniseries - about a terrifying plane ride into a most unfriendly sky is now available as a stand-alone publication.The flight attendants were gone; almost all the passengers were gone; Brian Engle was willing to bet the 767's two-man cockpit crew was also gone. He believed Flight 29 was heading east on automatic pilot. On a red-eye flight from L. A. to Boston, ten passengers wake up to discover everyone else has disappeared. Brian Engle, a trained pilot, remembers something about a strange aurora borealis and turbulence reports over the desert. Now he has to try to land the plane.But the safe haven of Bangor airport is not what it seems. It's eerily empty. The clocks have stopped. The food and drink is tasteless. The fuel doesn't burn. And the sound, like 'radio static', is getting closer. Craig Toomy, an investment banker, believes he knows what's coming. The Langoliers. Which means time is, quite literally, running out . . .A spine-tingling, propulsive novella, The Langoliers is a brilliant read from the masterful Stephen King.Trade ReviewThe Langoliers is . . . harrowing. . . . It's a great idea, with the execution both grounded and terrifying * GUARDIAN *An accomplished storyteller . . . incredible imagination * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *King has an uncanny knack of finding horror in the midst of the commonplace * DAILY MAIL *

Read more less

Book SynopsisCovering the first half of Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro's career, these are some of the best, most touching and powerful short stories ever writtenThis first-ever selection of Alice Munro's stories sums up her genius. Her territory is the secrets that cackle beneath the façade of everyday lives, the pain and promises, loves and fears of apparently ordinary men and women whom she renders extraordinary and unforgettable.This volume brings together the best of Munro's stories, from 1968 through to 1994. The second selected volume of her stories, 1995-2009 is also published by Vintage Classics.Trade ReviewMunro is a great realist, and her powers come from her sense of the way in which communities – especially small, socially anxious, limited ones – construct and guard their reality. * London Review of Books *Munro is a great realist, and her powers come from her sense of the way in which communities – especially small, socially anxious, limited ones – construct and guard their reality. * London Review of Books *One of the most esteemed writers in the world....Few writers capture the moral ambiguities, murkiness, messiness - and joy - of relationships with as much empathy and grace as Munro * Guardian *Her work is practically perfect. Any writer has to gawk when reading her because her work is very subtle and preciseThe best short story writer alive... Munro can pack more into one of her stories - more subtlety, more grace, more tender twists of the human heart - than many novelists do in a lifetime's oeuvre * Independent *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe highly anticipated follow-up to Alexander MacLeod's critically acclaimed debut, Animal Person is a wry and perfectly-observed collection of short stories about intimacy, family and the struggle to connectAnimal Person is a collection of startling juxtapositions. Criminals and bystanders, siblings and strangers, infants, adolescents, young parents, and the elderly, mammals, reptiles and fish: unexpected encounters occur and every meeting is an opportunity for recognition or rejection.An empty-nest couple, separated after years of coexisting, find themselves pulled into the dreams of their silent, gazing rabbit; a mysterious passenger in search of his missing suitcase roams through the caverns of a 1970s LA airport; a piano recital goes wildly astray; and a great-aunt refuses to apologise as she struggles to find a place for everything in the tight space of her senior's apartment. In the adjoining motel room, a serial killer plans his next move; and a petty argument between two sisters is interrupted by an unexpected visitor.The eight stories in Animal Person are filled with wonder and yearning as MacLeod captures the fleeting intensities that shape all of our lives. MacLeod is a master of the short story form, and this is a collection that beats with raw emotion and shimmers with the complexity of our shared human experience.'Exquisite...expertly paced and finely observed' New York Times'Excellent... The eight stories, composed in crystalline prose, glimmer and gleam with yearning and loss' Eithne Farry, Daily Mail'Tender, funny and ever-surprising' Lynn CoadyTrade ReviewThe eight stories in Alexander MacLeod's excellent second collection, composed in crystalline prose, glimmer and gleam with yearning and loss, as strange longings overwhelm his finely-drawn characters. -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail *Exquisite. * New York Times *Mesmerising... MacLeod...explore[s] the absurdities and dislocations of twenty-first-century life. -- James Moran * Tablet *Brilliantly unsettling. -- Alison Kelly * Times Literary Supplement *A five-star book. I loved it. Eight short stories, each one satisfying and complete... They all have a kind of yearning, a voice that is intimate, often troubled, but each shines a light on relationships good and bad. -- Claire Fuller

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A debut collection of such precocity and aplomb that it stands comparison to the likes of Junot Díaz and Bryan Washington' Observer 'Moving, truthful, straight from the heart' Neel Mukherjee 'These are excellent stories, told with skill and verve' Jon McGregor Here, beneath the planes circling Heathrow, various lives connect. Priti speaks English and her nani Punjabi. Without Priti's mum around they struggle to make a shared language. Not far away, Chetan and Aanshi's relationship shifts when a woman leaves her car in their drive but never returns to collect it. Gujan's baba steps out of his flat above the chicken shop for the first time in years to take his grandson on a bicycle tour of the old and changed neighbourhood. And returning home after dropping out of university, Lata grapples with a secret about her estranged family friend, now a chart-topping rapper in a crisis of confidence. Mapping an area of West London, these stories chart a wider narrative about the movement of multiple generations of immigrants. In acts of startling imagination, Gurnaik Johal's debut brings together the past and the present, the local and the global, to show the surprising ways we come together.Trade ReviewMoving, truthful, straight from the heart (and a very capacious heart too), the stories in WE MOVE announce the arrival of a promising young writer we will be talking about for years to come. Gurnaik Johal, welcome. * Neel Mukherjee *Delicate, controlled and moving portraits of the strange, poignant dislocation wrought by both distance and proximity * Colin Barrett *A stunning collection * Evening Standard *A whole universe of lives intricately connected and woven together in a way that is wholly surprising and unobvious * Huma Qureshi, author of Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love *An assured and profoundly humane collection, rich in character and story * Jo Lloyd, author of The Earth, Thy Great Exchequer, Ready Lies *'These are excellent stories, told with skill and verve. Gurnaik Johal has a sharp eye for details, an ear for the gaps and evasions in real dialogue, and a heart for the hopes and regrets that carry us through our lives. But most of all, he has the instincts of a storyteller, and in We Move he has put those instincts to great effect' * Jon McGregor *Deft and defiant. These stories are told with real heart and dazzling speed * John Patrick McHugh, author of Pure Gold *With this beautiful, kaleidoscopic, moving, staggeringly full-of-life debut collection of stories, Gurnaik Johal has catapulted himself into the front rank of the chroniclers of the country we live in. You don't know Britain until you've read We Move * Rahul Raina, author of How to Kidnap the Rich *Conversational, brimful of beautifully observed descriptions of the sights and sounds of this world. * Daily Mail *To describe Johal as a writer to watch would be true but misleading, implying that we need to wait for better things to come. Better to say that he's a writer to read now. -- John Self * Observer *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW HUNTER MURRAY''For as long as I''m immersed in a P.G. Wodehouse book, it''s possible to keep the real world at bay and live in a far, far nicer, funnier one'' MARIAN KEYES''Sunlit perfection'' STEPHEN FRY''Wodehouse is as loved as ever, and his vivid prose style and unique comic invention are major contributions to English fiction'' GUARDIANA summertime collection of stories at delight and to entertain, fit for Wodehouse fans and anyone who wants an uplifting, amusing read.''Paper has rarely been put to better use'' CAITLIN MORAN''Ingenious. Worth reading again and again'' SPECTATOR''Incomparable and timeless genius'' KATE MOSSE''The funniest writer ever to put words to paper'' HUGH LAURIE

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Hollywood hack who has fallen on hard times since the end of the Silent Era, Pat Hobby spends his time hanging out in the studio lot attempting to devise schemes - such as pressing his secretary for blackmail material against a studio executive - to get more work and earn on-screen credits. Oblivious to his own shortcomings and filled with feelings of self-importance, he embarks on a course towards ever-increasing humiliation, suffering setbacks on both the professional and romantic fronts. A vivid account of Hollywood and its politics and hierarchies, these stories - which draw from Fitzgerald's own travails as a screenwriter - were first printed in Esquire, although they were written with a view to being published as a cohesive volume.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: Pat Hobby s Christmas Wish, A Man in the Way, Boil Some Water Lots of It, Teamed with Genius, Pat Hobby and Orson Welles, Pat Hobby s Secret, Pat Hobby, Putative Father, The Homes of the Stars, Pat Hobby Does His Bit, Pat Hobby s Preview, No Harm Trying, A Patriotic Short, On the Trail of Pat Hobby, Fun in an Artist s Studio, Two Old-Timers, Mightier than the Sword, Pat Hobby s College Days.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The Man Who Wore His Wife's Sarong', Suchen Christine Lim's short stories of the unsung, unsaid and uncelebrated in Singapore, delve beneath the sunlit island's prosperity and coded decorum. Her characters chip away prejudice and sculpt it into acceptance of the other.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisNights of the Creaking Bed is full of colourful characters involved in affecting dramas: a girl who is rejected in love because she has three brothers to look after; a middle aged housewife who finds love again but has an impossible decision to make; a young man who can't get the image of his naked, beautiful mother out of his mind; a child so poor he has to hawk onions on Christmas day - and many others. Some, initially full of hope, find their lives blighted by the cruelty of others, or by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or by just not knowing the "right" people. Corruption, religious intolerance, gratuitous violence, the irresponsible attitudes of some men to their offspring and the importance of joy are some of the big themes that underlie this memorable collection.Trade Review"This is a cohesive, stylish collection, with atmospheric scenes and noir elements. Toni Kan's stories look behind shuttered window to express the unspeakable in the everyday." - Molara Wood, writer and cultural critic; “Beginning with deliberate brevity and ending on a note of lush lyricism, these fascinating vignettes of Lagos life showcase an array of peripatetic characters who are hopelessly stuck in their dilemmas.” - Sefi Atta, author of Everything Good Will Come;Table of ContentsStrangers 1 The Passion of Pololo 13 My Perfect Life 20 Broda Sonnie 35 The Harbinger 47 Nights of the Creaking Bed 56 The Echo of Silence 62 God is Listening 69 Ahmed 87 Buzz 94 Onions 107 The Devil’s Overtime 113 The Car They Borrowed 134 Sad Eyes 145 The Phone Call Goodnight 150

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn all-new collection of spring-themed mysteries from the master of the genre.Trade Review‘Without a doubt, the greatest mystery writer of all time’ – Ragnar Jonasson ‘A hundred years after her first novel, and we are all still standing in her shadow’ – Andrew Taylor ‘Agatha Christie is the gateway drug to crime fiction both for readers and for writers’ – Val McDermid ‘She gives us an insight into human nature that few, if any, have surpassed’ – Susan Lewis ‘Dame Agatha has sold more books than all besides Shakespeare and the Bible’ – David Baldacci ‘All crime fiction writers around the globe owe Agatha Christie a massive debt’ – Peter James ‘Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.’ – Tana French

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its fourteenth yearInspired by Giles Gordon and David Hughes's Best Short Stories series, which ran to ten volumes between 1986 and 1995, Best British Short Stories this year reaches its thirteenth volume.Best British Short Stories 2024 showcases an excellent and varied selection of stories, by British writers, first published during 2023 in magazines, journals, anthologies, collections, chapbooks and online.If the latest iteration of Salt's Best British Short Stories collection is anything to go by then the genre remains in safe hands.' Lawrence Foley, TLS

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Christmas Gothic (with thanks to author Marina Favila for the suggestion) is a seasonal celebration of the dark and moody, the ghastly, the ghostly and the magical Christmas short story. New stories from open submissions join the classic tales of Algernon Blackwood, James Joyce, E.F. Benson, Elizabeth Gaskell and more. The new, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Ramsey Campbell, Donna Cuttress, James Dodds, JG Faherty, Marina Favila, Kevin M. Folliard, John Linwood Grant, K.M. Hazel, Larry Hodges, E.E. King, Jonathan Robbins Leon, Clare Marsh, Marshall J. Moore, Templeton Moss, Jane Nightshade, Marie O’Regan, Katherine Quevedo, M.C. St. John, Lamont A. Turner, Suzanne J. Willis, and Cassondra Windwalker. Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOriginally written to entertain, move or chill, the eight short stories in this collection accompanied by parallel English translations now also help students gain deeper insights into French literature and life.Arranged in approximate order of difficulty, the range of stories is wide, from the stylized wit of Raymond Queneau to the beautifully written ambiguities of Philippe Sollers, from Pierre Gascar's exploration of childhood as a background to a tale of infidelity to Henri Thomas's gentle, ironic look at war. All make wonderful reads in either language.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHere are some of Tolstoy's extraordinary short stories, from The Death of Ivan Ilyich. in a masterly new translation, to The Raid, The Wood-felling, Three Deaths, Polikushka, After the Ball, and The Forged Coupon, all gripping and eloquent lessons on two of Tolstoy's most persistent themes: life and death. More experimental than his novels, Tolstoy's stories are essential reading for anyone interested in his development as one of the major writers and thinkers of his time.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the peerless author of The Lottery and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, this is a treasure trove of deliciously dark and funny stories, essays, lectures, letters and drawings.Let Me Tell You brings together the brilliantly eerie short stories Jackson is best known for with frank and inspiring lectures on writing; comic essays she wrote about her large, rowdy family; and revelatory personal letters and drawings. Jackson''s landscape here is most frequently domestic - dinner parties, children''s games and neighbourly gossip - but one that is continually threatened and subverted in her unsettling, inimitable prose. This collection is the first opportunity to see Shirley Jackson''s radically different modes of writing side by side, revealing her to be a magnificent storyteller, a sharp, sly humorist and a powerful feminist.''The stories range from sketches and anecdotes to complete and genuinely unsettling tales, somewhat alarming and Trade ReviewLike a lot of people I read 'The Lottery' when I was young, in an anthology of short stories from the New Yorker, and never forgot it. Let Me Tell You is a rich, enjoyable compendium of Jackson's unpublished short fiction and occasional writings, kicking off with a story of a dozen pages, 'Paranoia', which I won't forget, either -- Tom Stoppard * TLS Books of the Year *The stories range from sketches and anecdotes to complete and genuinely unsettling tales, somewhat alarming and very creepy ... For those of us whose imaginations, and creative ambitions, were ignited by 'The Lottery', Jackson remains one of the great practitioners of the literature of the darker impulses -- Paul Theroux * New York Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn impressive new selection of Henry James’s short stories, edited by Pulitzer Prize–nominated James biographer Michael GorraThis volume gathers seven of the very best of Henry James’s short stories, all exploring the relationship between art and life. In the title story, “The Aspern Papers,” a critic is determined to get his hands on a great poet’s papers hidden in a faded Venetian house—no mater what the human cost. “The Author of Beltraffio,” “The Lesson of the Master,” and “The Figure in the Carpet” all focus on naive young men’s unsettling encounters with their literary heroes. In “The Middle Years,” a dying novelist begins to glimpse his own potential, while “The Real Thing” and “Greville Fane” explore the tension between artistic and commercial success. These fables of the creative life reveal James at his ironic, provocative best.For mor

Read more less

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

Read more less