Author:Robert Musil
'They no longer hold themselves up with all their might, but sink a little and at that moment appear totally human'
Of the very first rank of prose stylists, Robert Musil captures a scene's every telling detail and symbolic aspect with a precise and remarkable beauty. In these nine stories and essays, he considers holidaymakers and stone monuments, tales of war and blackbirds, and the great pathos of a tiny death: a fly's impossible fight against the grip of flypaper.
This book includes Flypaper, Monkey Island, Fisherman on the Baltic, Sheep, As Seen in Another Light, Sarcophagus Cover, Monuments, The Paint Spreader, It's Lovely Here and The Blackbird.
Brutal and intoxicating.
—— GuardianTake American gothic + Tarantino + 1 cup of human blood. Liquidise in blender. Result: The great stories of Frank Bill
—— Alan WarnerAn astonishingly powerful debut book...It’s a brutal rabbit punch of a book – a shotgun blast in the chest of literature and a crystal meth hit to the reader…Remarkable.
—— Doug Johnstone , Big IssueAmazing collection…It’s all overshadowed by a Southern Indiana landscape that proves eerily ideal for guns, hunting, secret meth labs and the casual infliction of terrible pain. 270 pages of gripping and harrowing shitloads of it.
—— Dazed and ConfusedThere’s a whiskey-gargling swagger to [Frank Bill’s] Cormac McCarthy-style prose, and each noir tale is savagely addictive.
—— ShortlistGood Lord, where in the hell did this guy come from? Hits as hard as an ax handle to the side of the head after you've snorted a nose full of battery acid and eaten a live rattlesnake for breakfast. Seriously, I'm warning you in advance: take your heart medication and strap yourself to your bar stool for one of the wildest damn rides you're ever going to take inside a book.
—— Donald Ray Pollock, author of KnockemstiffDark, grim, and achingly beautiful. Frank Bill is one of the most original and compelling voices in this new generation of crime writers.
—— John Rector, author of The Cold KissSome serious hillbilly-noir that had my ears ringing by the end. Open the first page... and duck.
—— Craig Clevenger, author of The Contortionist’s HandbookA triumph...certain to seal her reputation as our contemporary Chekhov
—— MirabellaSuperlative...She distills a novel's worth of dramatic events into a story of 20 pages
—— Erik HuberThese astonishing stories remind us, yet again, of the literary miracles Alice Munro continues to perform
—— ElleGoosebumpingly unforgettable
—— New York ObserverRunaway may well be the synthesizing work of one of literature's keenest investigators into the human soul
—— USA TodayThe great Alice Munro proves again why short story writers bow down to her
—— Vanity Fair[Munro] really is the short story writer to beat... Munro has always been fascinated by those moments that tilt our world on its axis, as though the world really does turn on a kiss, but her brilliance lies in the psychological way that she convinces us of that fact
—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on SundayIn crystalline prose, she illuminates her characters' hopes and longings
—— Rebecca Rose , Financial Times[Munro] has been compared to Chekhov and I'm only being slightly tongue in cheek when I say that the honour is entirely his. Dear Life is comprised of 13 rich and startling stories, a must read
—— Niamh Boyce , Irish IndependentI haven’t even finished all of Dear Life, but Alice Munro’s stories have lived with me for such a long time and with such quiet passion that I’m barely capable of explaining why
—— Shahidha Bari , Times Higher Education[Munro’s] talent is formidable but she has never been self-seeking: her short stories have a subtle, covert brilliance
—— Kate Kellaway , ObserverThese stories won’t give you easy moral comfort, but will stretch you. They’re moral in that they name things as they are
—— Father Ronald Rolheiser , Catholic HeraldDear Life is a dazzling portrait of ordinary existence which illustrates how seemingly insignificant meetings and moments can have a monumental impact
—— UpcomingThis collection is beautiful; full of pure, simple truths that linger long in the mind
—— Philip Womack , New Humanist