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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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July 2009 
 
                     
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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


reviews 

interviews
Ballistics

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
                     
Daniyal Mueenuddin

author of In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
"...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
Visiting Hours

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
Mary Akers

author of Women Up On Blocks

"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
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
Mark Illis

author of Tender

"...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
Women Up On Blocks

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

Jason Allan Cole

author of 50 Rooms



"... 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
50 Rooms

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
Alex Keegan

author of Ballistics

"...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

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
Tender

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
>>>>>  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
Punk Fiction

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

Criminal Tendencies

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
Park Stories

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