Author:Frank O'Connor
'Father,' I said, feeling I might as well get it over while I had him in a good humour, 'I had it all arranged to kill my grandmother.'
Praised as Ireland's Chekhov, Frank O'Connor was a modern master of the short story. From an amateur brass band divided by partisanship to English soldiers who befriend their Irish captors, and from a child's comic confession to the end of a small-town friendship, these four humorous and tragic stories refract universal truths through the prism of 20th-century Ireland.
This book contains The Cornet-Player Who Betrayed Ireland,Guests of the Nation, A Story by Maupassant, and First Confession.
Adam Haslett is a wonderful rarity. You're likely not only to love his stories but to feel stronger for having read them
—— Jonathan Franzen, author of 'The Corrections'Adam Haslett possesses the rare ability to combine powerful narrative with sensitive and perceptive observations of people and places. You Are Not a Stranger Here is a brilliant beginning to a literary career
—— Barry UnsworthAdam Haslett's tone is one of delicate, understated heartache... He never lets the reader forget that he is shining an unflinching light on those types of human suffering that cannot be cured, only endured
—— Sunday TimesEnormously moving... Haslett's writing is harrowing, morbidly funny and deeply erotic
—— Independent on SundayAdam Haslett arrives from out of nowhere sounding like a master
—— Jay McInerneyThe stories are sharply focused, beautifully written and powerfully moving. I know of no collection like it. Deservedly it has become a classic
—— Ann BeattieYates is a master of the form
—— Sebastian Faulks