A Bit on the Side - Softcover

Trevor, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143035916 ISBN 13: 9780143035916

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2005

Synopsis

William Trevor's Last Stories is forthcoming from Viking.

In these twelve stories, a waiter divulges a shocking life of crime to his ex-wife; a woman repeats the story of her parents' unstable marriage after a horrible tragedy; a schoolgirl regrets gossiping about the cuckolded man who tutors her; and, in the volume's title story, a middle-aged accountant offers his reasons for ending a love affair. At the heart of this stunning collection is Trevor's characteristic tenderness and unflinching eye for both the humanizing and dehumanizing aspects of modern urban and rural life.

About this title

Review:

"Every story here is a model example of just how much a great writer can reveal in a short space." --Newsweek

"A Bit on the Side is a wonderful book... William Trevor really is the best short story writer alive." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

From the Back Cover:

A Bit on the Side - Twelve remarkable stories by the master storyteller William Trevor

'Compassionate, poignant, even heart-rending. Almost perfect works of art by perhaps the greatest short story writer now working in English' Sunday Independent

William Trevor is truly a Chekhov for our age. In these twelve stories, a waiter divulges a shocking life of crime to his ex-wife; a woman repeats the story of her parents' unstable marriage after a horrible tragedy; a schoolgirl regrets gossiping about the cuckolded man who tutors her; and, in the volume's title story, a middle-aged accountant offers his reasons for ending a love affair. At the heart of this stunning collection is Trevor's characteristic tenderness and unflinching eye for both the humanizing and dehumanizing aspects of modern urban and rural life.

If you enjoyed The Story of Lucy Gault and Love and Summer, you will love this book. It will also be adored by readers of Colm Toibin, George Saunders and James Joyce.

'A treat ... each meditate[s] on the subject of love - adulterous, unspoken, clandestine, sometimes cruel. Whether set in rural Ireland or London, their pages whisper of relished secrets and dreams foolishly clung to' Mail on Sunday

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0143035916
• ISBN 13: 9780143035916
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256