Description
Book SynopsisThe first collection of short stories from one of Britain's finest novelists and critics
A nameless man who has fallen out of love with life, refuses to get out of bed, with unexpected consequences. A sociologist recalls how he learned his first and formative lesson about the oppressive power of capitalism selling newspapers and magazines up and down the platforms of Waterloo station. Some years before the era of the Pill and the Permissive Society, four university friends travel to the Mediterranean for their first holiday together, where the climate is sultry and sex is on everyone’s mind. And a strong-willed young woman defies adverse circumstances to pursue the perfect wedding at all costs.
These are some of the characters that populate David Lodge’s shrewd, funny and delightfully entertaining short stories, collected here for the very first time. What prompted their publication in this form is a short story in itself, told by the author in his Foreword.
LONGLISTED FOR THE EDGE HILL SHORT STORY PRIZE 2017
Trade ReviewHis down-to-earth stories have a nice blend of the worldly and the ingenious. -- Phil Baker * Sunday Times *
David Lodge's short stories are as witty and surprising as his novels * The Times *
Fresh and timely...well-observed collection that one wishes was twice as long * Financial Times *
Lodge’s preoccupations in these stories tend to be masculine, though not exclusively. The stories deal with the tumult and mysteries of relationships in a style at once serious and farcical… This collection shows Lodge at his most playfully imaginative. * Independent *
