| Title | : | Granta 123: The Best of Young British Novelists 4 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Audible Audio |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published April 16, 2013 |
Granta 123: The Best of Young British Novelists 4 Reviews
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I started this with a fairly long-standing exasperation with the sameyness of modern literary fiction – but having recently loved works by Nicola Barker and Edward St. Aubyn among others, I knew it wasn't all a lost cause. Anyway, I'd long set great store by the Granta lists. (I'm probably not the only person on Goodreads who as a teenager had ambitious daydreams of being one of the writers on it. That's definitely not to be now as I would be well over the age limit in 2023 even if I were suddenly somehow able to do the whole 'writing a very good novel' thing.)
This being Best of Young British Novelists, and a group of them which would look great on any employer's diversity stats, I looked forward to hearing a lot of very different views of life in Britain. But don't read this collection, especially the first half of it, for that. Half-consciously, I was expecting the stories here (regardless of the writers' other work) to fill a remit like that of the
BFI 100, “culturally British”, including all the many cultures & experiences that could mean in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Many of the stories – or rather excerpts from unpublished novels, which make up the majority of pieces - are set abroad, featuring characters who've never lived in the UK. These would have been interesting if they were fewer in number, but it rarely felt like what these authors had in common was a country as well as an age, even if there can be said to be a common theme of dislocation.
This article gives a more considered view of the un-Britishness of the collection... I wished it was more like our version of the modern American literature its author describes. And, in the words of
a literary blog"the double fact of not being responsible for the gifts of half of these, and not being able to hold on to the other [who have emigrated], must say bad things about our literary culture."
Previous BYBN collections featured stories commissioned for them; this time the
rules had changed: writers could submit bits of works in progress and 17 out of 20 have done so here, which makes this a less enjoyable read but reflects well on the three authors who do have original stories: Naomi Alderman, Taiye Selasi and Ross Raisin - less so on the rest, especially those who would have known they were strong candidates. The excerpts also have the cynical commercialism of effectively making people pay to take in a large number of trailers for forthcoming products.
These writers have great diversity ethnically, and there is a majority of women among them. (Many more black & asian women than men though.) But almost all either live in London or have a degree from a
Golden Triangle university, and in most cases both apply. The majority went to Oxford - even the Cantabs could claim to be an oppressed minority here. A terribly narrow selection from the point of view of British regional and educational diversity; none without degrees and few without qualifications in creative writing – though at least we're not quite at the stage of the US and their MFA mafia.
Philip Hensher in the Spectator says there is a lack of mention of sexual minorities: "as far as I know there aren't any". I wonder to any extent if this is part of the very modernity of it, because among young liberal people it's not something one necessarily needs to make a point about now; there may be more people who don't actively label themselves and are on a scale which can slide this way and that. Ned Beauman's writing always seems to include some man on man sex but can I find anything online mentioning the author's own sexuality? Nope.
In the book itself there is a lot of competent but unspectacular writing. None of the punk-Victorian verbal fireworks of Will Self, and remarkably little humour of the sort you can expect from him and from Nicola Barker. (The only really comic story here is Naomi Alderman's, though Zadie Smith and Sarah Hall at least have some sparky lightness at times.) Sometimes it felt like half the book was made up of stories by Oxford-educated non-white female writers who use no humour and try to write in a typical lit-fic style from the viewpoints of male characters from disadvantaged backgrounds living in non-western countries. Post-colonial writing still seems to be stuck under the shadow of Salman Rushdie. [Rewriting this in June, I have an unread copy of Mohsin Hamid's [book:How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia|17471016] which looks promising. Hamid was one of the authors the judges regretted being unable to include because he was slightly too old.]
Summaries of the stories & writers
Serious post-colonial women: Kamila Shamsie, Tahmina Anam, Nadifa Mohamed, Taiye Selasie, Helen Oyeyemi. No humour and competent but unspectacular style in all these excerpts. There are surely are female writers from similar backgrounds who are funny and inventive, but not in this collection. (
I Do Not Come to You by Chanceby Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is one I'm looking forward to reading.) Some of Oyeyemi's novels sound like they're doing something interesting with a mixture of horror genre & literary styles but her piece here isn't.
White male writers, predictable subjects: Benjamin Markovits (US campus), Adam Foulds (British historical, Second World War), Adam Thirlwell (one night stand collapses or dies on guy in US hotel room, After Hours style), David Szalay (Hungarian amateur pimp, enforcer & callgirl take a trip to London), Ross Raisin (disaster tale – this wasn't quite such a predictable “young male” subject as the others but I was still a bit meh about the writing). Some of Raisin, Thirlwell, and Szalay's published books do sound more interesting to me than these particular stories though.
The much vaunted Ned Beauman kind of belongs in this group too, as his story is about a young male drug dealer. But it's also got gay sex in it, and, unlike an awful lot of current literary fiction, sounds slightly futuristic. He's one of the few authors here who seems to be doing something substantially different and interesting. I'd consider reading the novel his excerpt came from, but I'm not really interested in those he's published so far.
Steven Hall doesn't fit into any of these categories; his work is more experimental than any of the others. But its structure made it especially hard work to read on a Kindle; the stress of trying to get the second half to display in the right order outweighed any enjoyment I was gaining, and so I gave up. Better read in print.
Sunjeev Sahota's story about illegal immigrants in Sheffield wasn't groupable either; I was really interested in the subject but would have liked a more distinct style and more humour.
Stuff I liked: Naomi Alderman (funny, Neil Gaiman-esque: Elijah comes to stay with North London Jewish family), Evie Wyld (tough woman on Aussie sheep farm running from her past – an excellent trailer for her new novel which I'm dying to read just to find out what happens), Joanna Kavenna (safe, familiar, friendly tale of bohemian urban friends in their 30's), Zadie Smith (American kids in 50's or 60's Greenwich Village – really want to read the rest of this unfinished novella), Sarah Hall (female conservationist works with wolves in US & signs up for aristocrat's reintroduction project in UK), Xiaolu Guo (very brief snippet about Chinese immigration experience with a little more humour than the other immigrant stories ; had really wanted to read one of her books anyway, and this just reminded me), Jenni Fagan (I loved this excerpt about a middle aged bohemian guy fleeing to the country in a post-apocalyptic England. Dying to read more. But am not interested in her already published novel The Panopticon.)
(All female writers - yet in the past I've tended to read more men than women.)
Since read, 4-5 stars:
Joanna Kavenna,
Come to the Edge &
Inglorious.
Xiaolu Guo,
A Chinese-English Concise Dictionary for Lovers
Zadie Smith,
NW (the first of her novels I've really liked & admired – this collection made me want to try her work again after being annoyed by On Beauty)
Since read, 3 stars:
Naomi Alderman,
Doctor Who: Borrowed Time. I'd already read & liked Disobedience years ago but The Liar's Gospel and especially The Lessons don't really interest me.
Sarah Hall,
The Beautiful Indifference
Evie Wyld,
All the Birds, Singing
Since read, 2 stars:
Taiye Selasi,
Ghana Must Go -
A heavy THUD in the letterbox this morning.
A.L. Kennedy on the board of judges brought 'a hilarious seriousness' to the proceedings. I can imagine. That's what she does, hilarious seriousness. -
There is a key problem with this collection in that it puts forward, in the main, excerpts from novels. I don't believe this has always been the case. This makes it a) less enjoyable as a collection as the writing isn’t fit for purpose and b) harder to judge the relative merits of the people involved.
When I read a novel it normally takes a good 50 pages before I can judge its merit. Sometimes you can tell within 10-20 that something is destined to be great. I didn’t have that feeling with any of these (although doesn’t mean they won’t end up as cracking novels). So, that just leaves a 20 or so page excerpt plucked at random from a novel without the wider knowledge of what the book is driving at. Bit disjointed.
On a positive note. I had no reading experience with any of these authors prior to starting, outside Zadie Smith and Ross Raisin. My initial reaction on hearing the announcement of the list on the radio was ‘Where the flip is Jon McGregor???!!’. But after that fury/bewilderment subsided I was eager to read through 18 new names that will hopefully come to define the generation of British writers of my age.
For me there was a mixture of compelling novel concepts but the writing wasn’t all that special (Sanjeez Sahota, Ben Markovits), technical whizzbangery but I had no idea what the f**k was going on (Jenni Fagan) or sometimes pretty dull passages that may actually be alright in the context of a larger work (Kamila Shamsie, etc). Some passages were probably fine, but just not up my street (Alderman, Gao).
If I had to take a punt on some people, on the writing evidence given, they would be Thirlwell, Jenni Fagan, Evie Wyld, Ned Beauman, Ross Raisin and Helen Oyeyemi. But nothing was mindblowing, even Zadie Smith’s piece, and I like the cut of her jib. The most interesting sounding novels if they were turned into blurbs would be from Markovits and Sahota, about the regeneration of Detroit (topical) and a group of illegal immigrants in the North of England, respectively.
Overall, it was an underwhelming reading experience and the joys of these authors will probably develop further down the line, rather than prompting me to rush out and buy their books right now. I’ll sit and see, add them to the wish list and pick them up as a when. I wouldn’t be able to predict off of this list who would turn out to be the next David Mitchell, David Peace, or Sarah Waters, i.e., a top quality writer who also sells a bagload of books. -
Esse livro traz contos (ou, em alguns casos, trechos de livros ainda inéditos) de 22 jovens autores britânicos. Acho que por serem britânicos, eu meio que esperava, quando comprei o livro, que eles se passassem na Inglaterra. Olhando em retrospecto, parece uma expectativa meio idiota - o livro traz histórias passadas nos 4 cantos do mundo, desde um traficante de ópio nos confins da China até um romance surgindo no meio de um campo de refugiados na Somália.
Todos os contos são bons, mas alguns me chamaram mais a atenção. O conto de Naomi Alderman sobre a vida do profeta Elias, Logo e em nossos dias, é muito engraçado (eu provavelmente acharia mais engraçado se conhece as tradições judaicas, mas mesmo para quem não conhece nada, o conto é divertido), e me lembrou
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, WitchGood Omnens, de Terry Pratchett e Neil Gaiman. Europa, de David Szalay, me intrigou e me impressionou, principalmente pelo modo delicado e sensível com que ele aborda a questão da prostituição internacional. -
I've read all four of these collections now and on the whole this was the one I've enjoyed least. Only the excerpt from Ned Beauman's Glow *really* grabbed my interest - so much so, in fact, that I put this down to read that. I did enjoy David Szalay's Europa, After the Hedland by Evie Wyld, the wilful oddness of Steven Hall's The End of Endings (particularly his explanation that, because of entropy, it's millions of times more likely that a kitchen will be untidy - I'll have to try that on my wife) and Arrivals by Sunjeev Sahota, but the others I found to be very, very average. A disappointment after the others in the series, in which I usually found three or four authors whose books I went on to buy.
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would have appreciated more original short stories/pieces; too many were excerpts of upcoming novels. most selections had a similar sensibility - not as eclectic as expected.
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having Sarah hall and Ned Beauman made this a must buy but I am looking forward at sampling the rest of the authors here too; the H. Oyeyemi sample is also of great interest as I really, really loved White is for Witching and I hope the 2014 novel, Boy, Snow, Bird from where the sample belongs will be comparable, though I have not been able to advance too much in her recent Mr. Fox as meta books do not appeal in the least
read so far:
The Reservation - Sarah Hall - short and awesome excerpt from upcoming work which just became an asap; environmentalist expert takes a short leave from her US job to go and assess something for a English lord and his plans for his estate; uses the all expenses paid visit to the UK to visit her dying mother and probably her estranged family (8 years from last and not that happy reunion); will see if anything in the anthology tops it
Europa - David Szalay - excerpt from upcoming novel; Hungarian wheeler and dealer takes his stunning girlfriend to London to make money in the obvious way; takes his gym coach as bodyguard if clients of the girlfriend get nasty; excellent stuff so far and will definitely take a look at the novel
After the Headland - Evie Wyld - something about someone from the lower British classes; no interest in either story or slang narration
Interim Zone - Xiaolu Guo - excerpt from her upcoming I am china novel; powerful though short stuff about a Chinese (of Mongol origin most likely considering his name Kublai Jin) refugee in France musing about his childhood with a brutal and seemingly high ranking father; definitely will take a look at both the upcoming novel and Ms. Guo earlier work
The End of Endings - Steven Hall - while i did not really get along with The Raw Shark Texts, this excerpt from the upcoming second novel of the author is stunning and it takes the top place of the pieces so far; while it mostly introduces mysteries and it is written with the front straight white text/back upside down black text trick, the two narratives seem to take place in two time frames, one of 2014 (may or may not be our 2014 and one in what seems to be 1854 New York, but again may or may not be our history; great stuff is set up and that novel became a huge asap
Zephyrs - Jenni Fagan - not clear if this is contemporary or near future but very fast moving raw prose that made taking a look at Panopticon a sooner than later proposition
Submersion - Ross Raisin - for once a self contained bona fide short story about catastrophe as flood, fire and personal loss; short but very moving
Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi - Boy is a 22 year old girl who ran away from home and works as assistant bookseller and Sonw is her friend, while bird may be a parakeet that apepars briefly; great prose so far and another asap, this time race and class in contemporary UK seems to be the theme of the novel from which this is an excerpt
You Don;t have to Live like This - Benjamin Markowitz - uninteresting stuff about college students; readable but not my cup of tea so to speak so no interest in the novel from which this is excerpted
Soon and in Our Days - Naomi Alderman - short story this time and again no interest; something about Prophet Elijah and modern times, could be an allegory as I couldn't be bothered
Slow Motion - Adam Thirwell - fast moving, current pop=culture infused piece from a novel about a wannabe gangster who finds the girl he recently picked up, dead in their motel room; entertaining at short length but not sure how it will go as full novel
A world Intact - Adam Fould - extract from upcoming novel In the Wolf's mouth; WWII and Will (one of the heroes per blurb) story on a visit home; reasonably interesting though nothing not seen in similar period pieces; will take a look at the novel when published
Tomorrow - Joanna Kavenna - another novel extract, this time about dealing with family responsibilities like having kids versus youth dreams of changing the world; while it is hard to see what the novel will be about from the extract, the writing is interesting enough to take a look when published
Driver - Taiye Selasi - this is a self contained short story that takes place in Ghana and deals with class issues, rich versus poor, servants vs masters as well as some (ironic) racial stuff thrown in - the (young) driver of the story works for a rich family as a reward for his now dying of lung cancer father's longtime work as a driver for another even richer guy who is the brother of the mistress of the family; very good writing which warrants taking a look at the author's debut novel
Finally finished this a while ago but completely forgot; overall just great stuff and a showcase of Granta at its best -
Fantastic and varied writing in this collection. I had a hard time pacing myself so that I could fully enjoy each author. Overall, a wonderful sample of these authors’ works and I look forward to getting my hands on their next novels. A common theme seemed to be the experience of immigrants in Britain or elsewhere (Indians in Dubai). We reap the rewards of such a multi-cultural society with the variety of stories produced from the immigrant experience.
I listened to the audio version and realise that one of the downsides of listening (as opposed to reading) is that it’s hard to spell the names of the characters in the stories for review purposes.
Most memorable stories:
Tahmina Anam: Anwar gets everything
The story of Indians brought to work on building sites in Dubai. We get a glimpse into their living conditions, the demands to send money home, their difficult working life. One of the workmen thinks he is entitled to more--a girlfriend, air-conditioning, trips to the cinema--but ends up washing windows on a swaying platform on one of the highest buildings in the middle of a sandstorm. Anwar advises him not to look down.
Naomi Alderman: Soon and in our days
I loved this tongue-in-cheek tale, a humorous piece about Judaism in Britain, which makes us think about religion in society. Praying to the Prophet Elijah, we have a sneak preview of what would happen if he did come down on Earth. It’s not often that I actually LOL when reading, but I did here. A memorable line about Greta, who didn’t like goat's cheese. I need to read more from this author. Listening to her podcast on the Granta website, I believe she is now mentored by Margaret Atwood. Looking forward to reading more.
David Szalay: Europa
Told through the eyes of a Hungarian immigrant as he accepts a job as minder for Emma, this is a fascinating insight into his world. Emma is brought to a hotel for her first job as a prostitute. The minder reflects on his role, while attracted too to Emma, and sits with Emma’s boyfriend in the car waiting.
Evie Wyld: After the Hedland
Set in the Aussie outback among sheep shearers, the main character, a woman, tells of the tough existence and the difficulty of being a woman in this world. She is running away from something so she has no choice but to stick with what the outback throws at her. Looking forward to reading the finished novel.
Adam Thirlwell: Slow Motion
Written in conversational style, the main character really takes the reader into his head. ‘What I thought was this…’ We know his every thought as he tries to dispose of a girl's body, a girl who he woke up with but doesn’t remember going to bed with.
Sanjeev Sahota: Arrivals
Indians working and living in a cramped flats in Sheffield. Most of them are illegal and know they have no choice but to accept the worst jobs with toughest conditions. The main character got married in order to have a proper visa but doesn’t dare suggest to his wife that they move in together. He describes his days making chapatti before work, sharing the house, buying supplies from different shops to avoid chances of being caught as illegals in Britain. They go to work in van in the freezing cold, yet are thrilled to see snow for the first time. There is respect for elders, and a curiosity to know from which region in India each new person comes. I was totally engrossed in this story and am looking forward to completed novel.
Many other stories and authors worth reading in this collection. -
I had high hopes for this issue of Granta 123: The Best of Young British Novelists 4, especially given the beautifully written introduction by John Freeman, which so eloquently captures exactly what I have been trying to say unsuccessfully for so many years about the power of fiction, and the skill it takes to create, capture and articulate a world as real as our own.
“What is exciting about a novel is not what it tells us about reality, but how it uses the tools of literature – language and structure, time and voice – to create an alternative world that feels as real and as urgent as reality, a world against which even realistic novels scratch.”
“Literature exists, after all, not just for escape, but to speak truth to power, and it does so be asserting that the world as it is imagined is every bit as important as the world as it exists.”
“...literature creates a new reality, drip by drip, in the lives of its readers. It changes the way people imagine, which alters how they think, and expands what they believe is possible.”
Unfortunately, of the twenty works of fiction included in this issue, only three were actual short-stories, with the remaining seventeen all being excerpts from forthcoming novels. As such, they all read as "tasters" and it's difficult to get into the flow of the writing or the story, making this issue far less enjoyable as some previous issues. Despite these criticisms, I did enjoy 'After the Hedland' by Evie Wyld, 'Driver' by Taiye Selasi and 'Slow Motion' by Adam Thirlwell, the only author I have subsequently added to my 'To-Read' list.
Memorable Quotes
Vipers - Kamila Shamsie
“...he was maimed now, a partial man, and from here on he would never be admired, only pitied.”
Glow - Ned Beauman
“You know, back in the States, you can’t use the coffee pots in hotels, because people like you use them to brew meth. Even in the good hotels, I heard.”
Filsan - Nadifa Mohamed
“...a gun makes a soldier even out of a woman.”
Driver - Taiye Selasi
“If you have never been to Ghana then you might not understand the way the darkest skin can glow as with the purest of all lights.”
“Madam says her flowers are the toast of all of Ghana. I would note that all of us do not, alas, have bread. But the flowers are spectacular.”
You Don't Have to Live Like This - Benjamin Markovits
“I didn’t want to be gay, for several reasons. One of them being that I wanted to sleep with girls.” -
A few things to note:
1)Only 3 stories out of 20 are "new stories", the rest is all excerpt of then forthcoming or unpublished novels.
2)Those 3 are:
- "Soon and in Our days": a magical realist, lighthearted piece about the stay of Prophet Elijah in a modern family, set in America
-"Drivers" : a young chauffeur and his employers, especially the daughter at his age, set in Ghana
-"Submersion" : a young couple returns to the wife's family house during a flood, set in America
2.5)British novelists don't really write about Britain...?Right, they are mostly 2nd-gen immigrants
3)I would have given this short story collection a 4 if these were the only pieces. The rest is not sloppily written or what but they are excerpts and there are definitely...limitations for that.
4)I didn't finish the whole book (you can see this one is in my non-finito shelf) but the other 5 pieces I read...only one feels like a story that can stand on its own.
5)As I have been reading a wonderful short story collection by Calvino, I know, this is so unfair to these new novelists, but the contrast is just so sharp that I decided to return this Granta to the library.
6)Granta is still a magazine that all readers of fiction may check from time to time. Whenever I come across it in the library, I read a story and I am always delighted by the writing. Maybe this one just doesn't work for me? -
Disappointing. On the one hand labelling anything as the best of generates high expectations. On the other hand it's a magazine so all that can be contributed is a representative chapter or a short story. I wasn't overly impressed by the standard of writing or the insights. It seems to add up to a weaker mix than the last of these volumes. There's a few interesting and quirky bits but nothing transcendent.
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Another great collection. I particularly enjoyed Sarah Hall, Naomi Alderman, Ross Raisin and I was very pleased to be introduced to Evie Wyld and Helen Oyememi. The photos of the authors by Nadav Kander are very compelling too. Between the authors listed and the ads from the publishing houses I have got a lot more books to read and authors to keep an eye open for. Big thanks to John Freeman and the judges.
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The previous Granta lists have many great novelists who I enjoy reading, so well worth a look through this to get a taste for what might sustain my shelves for the next few decades. As always with a selection like this some pieces appeal more than others. Cemented my love of a few favourites - Foulds, Raisin, Rebecca Hall, and encouraged me to check out a couple of new names to me - Kavenna and Markovits.
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An excellent way to keep in touch with new British literature. My only complaint is about the audiobook production: in a long, segmented book like this, it would have been nice to follow the list of contents on the display of my device: the audio file chapters should have stated which author and which book was currently playing.
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Loving this collection so far. Going to take a break from it for a while (because I want to relish it for a while) but so far I've loved all the stories/excerpts that I've read so far, especially those by Kamila Shamsie, Tahmima Anam, and Nadifa Mohamed. Looking forward to reading the rest of these stories (and novels from the included authors).
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All the stories here are entertaining. I guess I was expecting more.
I think Adam Thirlwell and Stephen Hall's stories bring new life to writing, playing with time and format.
Sunjeev Sahota introduced me to a little glimpsed way of life in England. (Funny how so many of these Young British Novelists write of the US.) Ross Raisin's story of disaster and humanity gives me much to think on. -
I had it in my head that this would be a collection of short stories, it being Granta, but there were only a few - the rest being excerpts of forthcoming novels. And I can't say that reading excerpts of novels is particularly satisfying - I find I never feel the urge to invest fully in it. Which made this a chore to read. There were a few standouts, but nothing majority exciting.
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I'm now looking forward to reading "Boy, Snow, Bird" anf "End of Endings" once they are published.
Also. "Submersion" was my first reading experience with Second Person Narration. It feels really weird and immerges you into the story more than any First or Third Person Narration I have ever read by identifying with a 'you' in the text. -
The stand-outs for me would be Helen Oyeyemi (whose novel I can't wait to read), Steven Hall and Naomi Alderman. I didn't much care for Thirlwell or Wyld and of the three pieces by Zadie Smith I've read this year, this one was unfortunately the least impressive.
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Much anticipated. Stand out stories for me were from Adam Thirlwell (man wakes up next to body of woman, what to do?), Naomi Alderman (the prophet Elijah pays a visit to Hendon) and Steven Hall (two narratives printed top-to-tail on alternating white and black pages).
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Borrowed this volume from my brother for one night and read the Naomi Alderman story, which I really enjoyed. I've dipped into Granta volumes before, and would quite like my own subscription now.
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Granta has always doen a great job with these collections. I'll be interested to see what the new Granta does.
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British lit is in safe hands with this new generation! I love the sharp multiple identities .... That the authors incorporat.
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Wonderful.
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I found this rather boring and disjointed. I feel like you needed a bit more of the novel to really gage what the book is about, what it's motives are, what its plot and point is.
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There’s a lot of very nuanced takes in the reviews here, and they seem to be quite good at that so I’ll let them and instead focus on inhabiting the only space I know and feel comfortable in — aka, My Own Personal Subjective Feelings.
Honestly, I’d never heard of Granta or this clearly infamous collection they put out every ten years. My bad. What I really enjoyed was being able to submerge myself into so many stories and writing styles in such a short period of time. Obviously, with some of these being chapters from novels, there is some context missing, but I actually thought it added to my enjoyment of the pieces in question.
I really enjoyed some of these, and barely got through others. In my opinion the value of this collection stems from that, though I do understand the frustration stemming from not all of the authors’ writing styles being to everybody’s liking.
Looking forward to next year’s edition. -
This was my first experience of a Granta magazine. I bought it in 2014 at the Edinburgh Book Festival. It has taken me a while to get around to reading it. I am intrigued by the variety of responses to it in the reviews here. Many are disappointed by the dearth of original short stories by the successfully listed authors. It sounds as though the 1983, 1993 and 2003 editions may be even better. I enjoyed exploring the work of the BYBNs and have found several authors new to me whose work I would like to read more of particularly Evie Wyld, "All the Birds Singing", Adam Thirlwell, Steven Hall "The End of Endings", Adam Foulds, Joanna Kavenna, Sarah Hall and Helen Oyeyemi.
