Authors: William Trevor
ISBN-13: 9781615609277, ISBN-10: 161560927X
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Date Published: February 2000
Edition: Bargain
Known for moving, haunting novels such as Felicia's Journey and Fools of Fortune, Irish author William Trevor is also known as a master of the short story genre. As the New York Times Book Review noted, Trevor "moves between the short story and the novel; Irish settings and English; the capitalized Troubles of his native land and the personal lowercase ones of his characters." He does so with unwavering skill.
A new collection from “the greatest living writer of short stories in the English language” (The New Yorker)
The publication of a new book by William Trevor is a true literary event. One of our finest chroniclers of the human condition, Trevor's precise and unflinching insights into the lives of ordinary people are evidenced once again in this stunning collection of twelve stories. Subtle yet powerful, these exquisitely nuanced tales of regret, deception, adultery, aging, and forgiveness are a rare pleasure, and they confirm Trevor's reputation as a master of the form. From a chance encounter between two childhood friends to memories of a newly widowed man to a family grappling with the sale of ancestral land, Trevor examines with grace and skill the tenuous bonds of our relationships, the strengths that hold us together, and the truths that threaten to separate us.
As a writer, William Trevor long ago achieved the status of "beloved," which just goes to show you how strange the heart is. His preoccupations, after all, are loss, loneliness, waste, isolation, estrangement, betrayal, cruelty, adultery, sexual predation, murder, death, and, on the bright side, endurance and grinding expiation. He is a master at creating an air of menace, and his humor, now increasingly subterranean, is mordant. His novels are very fine, in some cases great, but the short story -- not a popular form -- is his true domain. Here he has no living equal in English.
The Dressmaker’s Child
The Room
Men of Ireland
Cheating at Canasta
Bravado
An Afternoon
At Olivehill
A Perfect Relationship
The Children
Old Flame
Faith
Folie a Deux