Author:Primo Levi
'He was blamed for endless disasters, from failed exams to a bridge collapse, an avalanche, even a shipwreck: all due, in the stupid opinion of, first, his fellow-students and, later, his colleagues, to the penetrating power of his evil eye...'
Profound and compassionate, Primo Levi was one of the most astonishing literary voices to emerge from the twentieth century. Whether describing the most beautiful poem ever composed or an invention gone horribly wrong, these eight exquisitely wrought stories open up a rich, fantastical world of wonder, adventure and cruel twists of fate, where nothing is as it seems.
This book contains The Magic Paint, The Death of Marinese, Censorship in Bitinia, Knall, Gladiators, The Fugitive, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Buffet Dinner
Queer is a stunner. A neglected work that became legendary in its very absence.
—— Los Angeles TimesAt the top of her form, she is remarkable
—— Jane Shilling , The TimesShockingly beautiful and painfully funny
—— ObserverThe quality of the writing should help to explain Enright's having won the 2007 Man Booker Prize ... single lines and paragraphs are so well crafted, with such salty, pleasantly brutal sensibility, that these stories function like beguiling advertisements for Enright's novels. After sampling Taking Pictures, those who, like me, have not yet read The Gathering will likely move her Man Booker winner nearer to the top of the pile beside the bed
—— Lionel Shriver , Daily TelegraphShe's a sphinx, an alchemist, a literary witch who sticks a spell on you. Angela Carter and Ali Smith can do this too.... buy it, read it, it isn't realism, it's music
—— ScotsmanEvery one of these stories takes you to a place you might rather not be in, but which you are drawn in to explore, allured by their dark brilliance
—— Hermione Lee , GuardianEnright writes beautifully about the distance of desire
—— Financial TimesDazzling ...These narrative snapshots are skilfully framed and in-focus, the language forthright and fresh
—— Time OutThis short story collection gives those new to her oeuvre a chance to delve into gems from her past...precociously vibrant
—— Melissa McClements , Financial Times