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About The Short Review
The
Short Review is a journal which shines the spotlight on short story
collections and anthologies, newly published and older, across all
possible genres, styles, publishers and countries. Each month we review
ten books and interview as many of their authors as possible to bring
the stories behind
the stories. Read more...
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us on
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Congratulations!
To the six short story collections shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor
International Short Story Award. See the blog for the shortlist.
With this
month's issue, we bring you the most authors we have ever reviewed -
with anthologies containing stories from up to 50 authors
outnumbering single-author
collections.
There is a plethora of criminal behaviour, nostalgia for the era of
punk, tales of those in waiting, a little erotica and more. Interviews
with Daniyal Mueenuddin, whose collection we reviewed in last month's
issue, Mary Akers, Jason Allan Cole, Mark Illis and Alex
Keegan.
Also on the blog:
Ailsa Cox takes us behind the scenes of the Edge Hill Short Story
Prize, whose winner will be announced on July 4th."
Read
more.
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by Alex
Keegan
reviewed
by Majella Cullinane |
There is much to enjoy in Keegan's Ballistics; a highly engaging read
by a writer with a distinctive, and bold writing style. Read
the full review
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author
of In Other Rooms,
Other Wonders
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"...I write quickly and quite
unconsciously, playing with words but otherwise not considering much
other than the flow of the story forward – but when I rewrite I'm very
aware of readers. Often I love the stink of a phrase, something ripe,
and then I think, O my god, X is going to murder me if I don’t cut
that....." Read
the full interview
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ed by
Daniel E. Wickett
reviewed
by Scott Doyle |
Stories about visiting, and waiting, often in hospitals. All are
written with great heart, and there are a number of stand-outs, but
this is an uneven collection. Read
the full review
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author
of Women Up On Blocks
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"I think ordering can be really
tricky. What I did was map out each story in terms of point-of-view,
tense, and something I guess I would call "mood." ...I find as a reader
that I quickly tire of story collections that contain the same voice
and mood throughout . What can be brilliant in a single story
can be really tiresome in a whole collection. .."
Read
the full interview
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| See You Next Tuesday: The Second
Coming |
edited by
Steven Coy
reviewed
by Jason Makansi |
Class
assignment: write something erotic or sexy. 1000 word limit. At
first, after reading this collection, I thought I knew how a prostitute
must feel like at the end of the week, or the professor in the
pornography department grading papers for this assignment. Read
the full review
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author
of Tender
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"...Story can be comforting and
familiar and a bit like having your tummy tickled, but at its best I
think it's a lot more than that. ... It means something that's going to
stimulate me and probably challenge me emotionally and intellectually,
it's going to make me catch my breath and go Oh, I never expected that,
or Oh, I never thought of that before, or Oh, I'd never thought of it
like that before … or just generally Oh....." Read
the full interview
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by Mary
Akers
reviewed
byJulia Bohanna |
These are not pale tragic heroines. Or glamorous ballbreakers. This is
domesticity with a serious twist, where epiphanies arrive uninvited, to
disturb and change everything. Read
the full review
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author
of 50 Rooms
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"...
I think I was going for a novel at first but then one night in the
early stages it all came to me. I have always been a huge fan of the
short story. I wanted the stories to hit their mark and then move on.
It’s like punk rock songs really. Make the point and then on to the
next. I liked the freedom of the short story so I could throw in
anything I wanted but made sure that they all connected in the end at
least in spirit. ..." Read
the full interview
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by Jason
Allan Cole
reviewed
by Mark Brown |
Another book about the pimps, users, boozers and criminals of low life
America fails to impress. Read
the full review
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author
of Ballistics
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"...I find expressing myself
(especially nowadays (example, Larry)
as extremely intimate. I often feel I "go naked" when I write, and for
me writing is very similar to being with someone and trying to get them
to understand what it's like inside my head...... " Read
the full interview
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| The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime |
edited by
Michael Sims
reviewed
by Sheila Cornelius |
A
critique of greed underlies these stories of ‘gentlemen’ conmen; will
appeal to readers of mystery or literary crime stories with upper-class
characters and no sex or violence. Read
the full review
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by Mark
Illis
reviewed
by Annie Clarkson |
These stories inhabit the lives of the Dax family over a span of thirty
years, and draw us in, so we don't want to let go of them when the
stories end.Read
the full review
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>>>>>
On
the blog:
Ailsa Cox takes us behind the scenes of the Edge Hill Short Story
Prize, whose winner will be announced on July 4th.
And: the shortlist of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story
Award is announced. Find out who made the cut. Visit the blog. |
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edited by
Janine Bullman
reviewed
by Sara Crowley |
Punk nostalgia.. punked up hair, chains, piercings, make-up, sex,
scowls, drugs, booze, violence, love, and vomit, always against a
backdrop of music.
Read
the full review
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edited by Lynne Patrick
reviewed
by Daniela I. Norris |
A poignant collection of stories from well-known and not-so-well-known
crime writers; an enjoyable, varied read which holds something for all
crime-fiction fans – but not only. Read
the full review
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by Ali
Smith, Sheena Mackay, William Boyd, Nicola Barker, Hanan al Shaykh,
Clare Wigfall, Will Self
reviewed
by James Murray-White |
This collection does not live up to its potential– some stories have
spikes of interest and flights of imagination, but sadly its not the
book for a lazy sunday in the park. Read
the full review
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