Staff Picks: Short Story Collections
Jamie Cameron, Managing Editor
Good Trouble by Joseph O’Neill
Joseph O’Neill is best known for his 2008 novel Netherland. He is probably known better still for Zadie Smith’s attack on that book’s brand of ‘hypnotically eloquent lyrical realism’. His debut short story collection Good Trouble opens with a satire about a writer in a mid-career rut who is outraged that he has been asked to sign a ‘poetition’ – a petition written in verse – urging Obama to pardon Edward Snowden. The poem-petition rhymes ‘Snowden’ with ‘pardon.’ And ‘pardon’ with ‘Rose Garden.’ And ‘Rose Garden’ with ‘nation.’ And ‘nation’ with ‘Eden.’ Amanda Gorman eat your heart out.
The same story also features a hilarious takedown of Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize win:
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Mark had hoped that Bob had the integrity to recognize that an ultra-celebrated multimillionaire who deals in concerts and extra-paginal iconicity is not playing the same game as a writer who sits down in a small college town and, with no prospect of meaningful financial reward, tries to come up with a handful of words that will, unless something untoward should happen, be read by a maximum of a hundred and forty people and be properly appreciated by maybe fifty-two of these, of whom maybe six will be influenced.
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This kind of shrewd anatomising of white masculinity is hardly breaking new ground, but when I read Joseph O’Neill’s short stories I feel like asking: who cares? Who cares if his breed of lyrical realism is a function of our ailing literary culture? Or that his style is too perfect and ‘thats the problem’? It’s also ridiculously funny and that goes a long way.
Zadie Loft, Marketing and Editorial Assistant
Hawa Hawa and Other Stories by Nabarun Bhattacharya (tr. Shubha Prasad Sanyal)
Magical, surreal and daring, this collection of short stories reads like a fever dream in the best way. Not only a brilliant insight into the political and social climate of 1970s Bengal, they are consistently surprising and entertaining. Characters range from a murderer’s indignant brother, an old revolutionary, a businessman who deals in death and a young boy named Toy with homicidal tendencies. Fun! Sanyal’s translation brings the sounds of the text to life in English and creates a book that truly lives and breathes. It’s a challenge, but a worthwhile one.
Within the Walls by Giorgio Bassani (tr. Jamie McKendrick)
I read these stories in Bologna, and instantly wanted to go to Ferrara to experience them properly. Atmospheric and masterful, the stories wander through the stark and uncomfortable communities of Ferrara in the immediate post-war context. Each sentence is delicious and the translation by McKendrick brings the Italian so beautifully to the English ear.
Katie Tobin, Marketing and Editorial Assistant
Dubliners by James Joyce
I’ll be the first to admit that reading Joyce can be an arduous affair. I love Ulysses, the propulsive rhythym of its prose and its inventive literary experiements – but it’s a book I don’t much find myself going back to. Dubliners, however, holds a special place in my heart. Easily the most accessible of Joyce’s stories, this broad collection is realist and moving. It’s a testament to its time: the spectres of nationalism, colonialism and Catholicism looming large over each story. Even if you’re not a Joyce fan, I’d say it’s well worth a read.
James Birkbeck, Contributor
Desert Snow by Malek Al-Chalabi
Desert Snow is a poignant exploration of exile, identity and the fractured self. Blurring the lines between memoir and fiction, Al-Chalabi transports readers through a richly textured narrative that spans desert landscapes and urban anonymity. At its core, the book grapples with the emotional toll of displacement, offering an intimate portrayal of the protagonist’s longing for home, a concept that proves elusive in both geography and memory. Al-Chalabi’s prose is lyrical yet restrained, allowing the weight of his themes to resonate without overindulgence. Through sharp, evocative imagery, he navigates the intersections of culture, belonging and alienation, while subtly critiquing the political forces that shape identity.
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