Author:John Buchan
In 'The Strange Adventures of Mr Andrew Hawthorn' and the other stories in this collection, peculiar worlds of temptation, adventure or iniquity are perilously close at hand. Mr Hawthorn himself steps outside to allow his porridge to cool and disappears for five years and more, a Glasgow grocer is shipwrecked and ultimately worshipped as a god, a young mathematician discovers an entirely new aspect of reality and becomes terrified by what he finds there, and an ageing sinner clings grimly, weakly to a hard-won life of decency: John Buchan in each demonstrating his abilities as a gripping writer of short stories.
In his introduction, Giles Foden explores Buchan's innate sense of the fascination held by sudden jeopardy and vanished comfort, and the themes of the will and fate in his work.
He writes with subtlety and skill... beautifully manipulating the language which veers and soars from the vernacular to the high-flown and summoning characters that are at once believable and sympathetic
—— Daily TelegraphExtremely readable and enjoyable
—— GuardianBrilliantly unsettling
—— ObserverIn clean, uncomplicated prose inlaid with images of striking lyricism, Woodward explores the bizarre possibilities of ordinary people's lives
—— Sunday TelegraphThe down-to-earth dialogue and the deadpan delivery remain doggedly realistic, and some stories retain not only the ring of truth but also its open-ended structure
—— Times Literary SupplementUncanny, absurd and at times macabre, these stories magically combine a poet's eye for imagery with a novelist's complexity of theme
—— Financial TimesThe author's humour often glimmers quietly and there is surreal black comedy
—— Hugo Barnacle , Sunday Timespungent and memorable
—— William Leith , The ScotsmanAn enjoyable collection.
—— Anthony Cummins , Daily TelegraphGerard Woodward falls squarely between the comic lunacy of American short-form virtuoso George Saunders and the everyday rhapsodies of Raymond Carver ... Woodward is actually at his best when he's knee-deep in the ordinary
—— Time OutAt last, Galloway's stories are back in print in one collection...savagely accurate, engaging and funny, she is one of our great contemporary writers
—— Independent on SundayA testament to the sharp eye and shrewd brain of Janice Galloway, one of Scotland's finest writers
—— The HeraldA writer of passion and virtuosity
—— Scotland on Sunday