- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (4 Jan 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1400043204
- ISBN-13: 978-1400043200
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 14.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 952,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A new collection of stories by the internationally acclaimed author of Any Human Heart (“the finest storyteller of his generation” –Chicago Tribune).
In “Notebook No. 9,” a film director’s journal becomes an unintentional record of his obsessive love for his leading lady and the slow destruction of their relationship.
In “Beulah Berlin, an A—Z,” a performance artist, longing for stability and order, reveals the details of her chaotic life through her comments on such varied subjects as angst, hay fever, photography, baby names, sonnets, and tobacco.
In “Fantasia on a Favorite Waltz,” a prostitute finds an unexpected friend in a young man who plays piano in a brothel.
In “Adult Video,” we see a man’s life in film format–rewinding to his years as a struggling student at Oxford, fast-forwarding to his dreams of success as a writer, and watching the present unfold as he proposes to his future wife for all the wrong reasons.
Exploring the ways a life can be dominated by a need for love and the torments that arise when love is misplaced or denied, these stories confirm William Boyd’s reputation as a master of the art.
In “Notebook No. 9,” a film director’s journal becomes an unintentional record of his obsessive love for his leading lady and the slow destruction of their relationship.
In “Beulah Berlin, an A—Z,” a performance artist, longing for stability and order, reveals the details of her chaotic life through her comments on such varied subjects as angst, hay fever, photography, baby names, sonnets, and tobacco.
In “Fantasia on a Favorite Waltz,” a prostitute finds an unexpected friend in a young man who plays piano in a brothel.
In “Adult Video,” we see a man’s life in film format–rewinding to his years as a struggling student at Oxford, fast-forwarding to his dreams of success as a writer, and watching the present unfold as he proposes to his future wife for all the wrong reasons.
Exploring the ways a life can be dominated by a need for love and the torments that arise when love is misplaced or denied, these stories confirm William Boyd’s reputation as a master of the art.
About the Author
William Boyd was born in Ghana in 1952. He was brought up there and in Nigeria. He was educated at the universities of Nice, Glasgow and Oxford. He is the author of eight novels and two previous volumes of short stories, and the recipient of many prizes, including the Whitbread First Novel Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Sunday Express Book of the Year Award. He is married and lives in London.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
Springtime in Oxford is vulgar, anyway, but something about this particular spring in Oxford is having me on. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Springtime in Oxford is vulgar, anyway, but something about this particular spring in Oxford is having me on. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A virtuoso performance,
By Philip Spires "Author of Mission, an African ... (La Nucia, Spain) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Fascination (Paperback)
Fascination by William Boyd is a set of sixteen short stories. This may not sound either surprising or original until one considers their form. The author uses at least nine different and clearly identifiable forms in which to present this work. One takes the form of a video. There are childhood memories, a diary, a journal, an A-to-Z listing. One story is a set of dialogues over lunch. Another is a set of monologues. And William Boyd's use of these different forms is not just a writer's trick to impress a critic. In each case to form complements the story, adds interpretation to the events and helps our understanding of the characters. Fascination is thus no less than a fascinating read, a tour de force in miniature by a great writer.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read it,
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This review is from: Fascination (Paperback)
I got this as a present. I've not read any of the author's work before so had no expectations. And I'm not a huge fan of short stories, so I was pleasantly surprised when I read the first story. It was fantastic. And each and every one after was just as good. Superb collection from a talented writer, highly recommended.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent read,
By Simon F (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fascination (Paperback)
A great collection of short stories, beautifully written and perfectly illustrating why William Boyd is one of the UKs finest and most readable modern authors.
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