Michael Christie's The Beggar's Garden Harper-Collins, 2011 Although the title for Michael Christie's story collection is drawn from the final story, it might well have been pulled from the second story's title, "Discard". It's at the heart of this debut collection: that which has been left behind, tossed out, put
Alexi Zentner's Touch Knopf, 2011 It seems like stating the obvious, but Touch is all about storytelling. Sure, all novels are fiction. They all contain stories. But they aren't all about storytelling. However, Alexi Zentner's novel is just that. "I felt like I knew him already. I'd heard so many
Unforgettable design, no? Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers House of Anansi, 2011 So I'm chatting about this book, about the scene with the 'dentist', and I announce that I agree that it's unfair that he doesn't get paid for his 'services', but dismiss it quickly by saying that
I spent a ridiculous amount of time touching this cover (and wishing the hole in the centre was actually cut) Esi Edugyan's Half-Blood Blues Thomas Allen Publishers, 2011 In the opening pages of Esi Edugyan’s second novel, readers meet Heiro, Chip, Delilah and Sid, and are immersed in
Zsuzsi Gartner’s Better Living through Plastic Explosives Penguin, 2011 I was stunned by All the Anxious Girls on Earth when it was published in 1999 (tell me: how has it happened that a dozen years have passed since then?). Partly because I read it all-in-a-rush. Partly because the stories are
