Good little collection of short stories that was written in support of Oxfam.

There was the odd duff one, but I did like Fieldwork by Ian Rankin and Telescope by Jonathan Buckley ( )

16 Jun 2010 - gift from friend Helen/Nice-cup-of-tea

I'm not normally the biggest fan of the short story as I like a longer form, maybe because I read quickly. But this was sent to me as a gift, chosen for me, and there was a lot to like. In particular, Rose Tremain's story about the death of Tolstoy was beautifully written as if it was itself by a master Russian writer, and Kate Atkinson's "Lucky We Live Now", about a woman's possessions going back to their original form in an age of austerity (I particularly liked the kangaroo) was quite disturbing but ever so well done. Lots of different types of writer made it a very interesting collection and enjoyable to read.

I'm trying to be rigorous about not keeping too much, so as this has already travelled, may I BookCross it? ( )

An excellent collection of eight short stories and one extract from a novel in progress by British authors. As you would expect from an accomplished short story writer, Rose Tremain's 'The Jester of Astapovo' captures a historical moment with vividness and immediacy. Marina Lewycka's 'The Importance of Warm Feet' is also memorable, especially as I had previously only read her novels.
But for me the bonus of this collection was Jonathan Buckley's 'Telescope', which is the extract from a novel in progress. This is a new author for me and I shall be looking out his novels as the extract was engagingly written and intriguing, although I am unsure how the interest can be sustained over a novel.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of this book, and the three other in the series (Fire, Water and Air), raises money for Oxfam. ( )