by Ian Jack
First published 2002
This fiction collection spotlights emerging voices alongside established writers. Gary Shteyngart, under thirty, contributes a comic tale about a Russian immigrant whose marriage to a New York native falls apart spectacularly. Jon McGregor, who washes dishes at a Nottingham restaurant, offers a poetic story set in the Anglian fens where someone dies under strange circumstances. Rachel Cusk, Edmund White, and Jonathan Ley add new short fiction. The issue also features Arthur Miller recalling his days at the Chelsea Hotel with Brendan Behan and Dylan Thomas, Rory Stewart's encounter with dervishes in Pakistan, and Aleksander Hemon returning to Sarajevo. Deirdra O'Callaghan's photographs capture Camden Town's displaced residents. The collection mixes humor and darkness, pairing breakout writers with literary veterans.
Genres: fiction, anthologies, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Anglian Fens, Camden Town, New York, Nottingham, Pakistan, Sarajevo
Period: Chelsea Hotel
256 pages · Paperback · Granta