In his second collection of short stories, Mike McCormack joins head and heart in a series of tales which weave a fluid vision of a world morphing between the real and the hyperreal. Amid much hollow laughter a prisoner is drawn from his cell in the middle of the night to play a video game; two rural guards ponder the security threat posed by the only man in Ireland not to have written his memoirs; a child tries to offset his destiny as a serial killer by petitioning his father for a beating; a late night American cop show becomes a savage analysis of a faltering marriage in the west of Ireland; two men turn up at the door of a slacker to give him news of his death and recruit him to some mysterious surveillance mission; an older brother worries about the health of his younger sibling; the prodigal son returns to reveal the fear and hypocrisy which lies at the heart of his brothers life. In twelve stories McCormack's characters find themselves trying to hold onto their identities in a world where love is too often and too easily obscured.
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
About the Author
MIKE MCCORMACK was born in 1965 and comes from the west of Ireland. He is the author of a collection of short stories, Getting it in the Head (1996), and two novels, Crowe's Requiem (1998) and Notes from a Coma (2005). In 1996 McCormack was awarded the Rooney Prize for Literature. Getting it in the Head was chosen as New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1998. In 2006 Notes from a Coma was shortlisted for the Irish Book of the Year Award. He has received several Arts Council Awards and in 2007 he was awarded a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship. The author currently lives in Galway.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By Louise Ward
Format:Paperback
Forensic Songs is Mike McCormack's second short story collection, as well as having written two novels. His first collection was chosen as New York Times Notable Book of the Year. This new collection of twelve short stories has an enigmatic title and an attractive fly-fishing hook design cover by Graham Thew.
The fly-fishing hook design explains itself in the first story, 'The Last Thing We Need'. A sergeant due to retire in two months and his young side-kick, with just two months under his belt discuss a case of a non-written memoir and how to deal with it. The conversation, beautifully captured between the two characters, is one of the old guard passing on his advice to the younger, with deviations at times on the theme of fly-fishing.
In 'The Great Lad', a returning brother (thought dead the last seven years) brings back past resentments and memories. This returning emigre theme continues into another story 'The Man From God Knows Where' and several stories carry links to the Irish working in England . A strange scenario is played out in 'There is a Game Out There', a prisoner brought to a room at night and asked to test play a computer game and in 'Beyond' a woman appears to lose touch with reality.
McCormack has great observation of character, the things that annoy us about each other and the aspects of human weakness. There is nowhere to hide when these stories are being told, revealing things to the reader that they may uncomfortably identify with and other stories that are just plain obscure. Short stories seem to be having a renaissance and with writing of this standard it's not hard to see why.
The fly-fishing hook design explains itself in the first story, 'The Last Thing We Need'. A sergeant due to retire in two months and his young side-kick, with just two months under his belt discuss a case of a non-written memoir and how to deal with it. The conversation, beautifully captured between the two characters, is one of the old guard passing on his advice to the younger, with deviations at times on the theme of fly-fishing.
In 'The Great Lad', a returning brother (thought dead the last seven years) brings back past resentments and memories. This returning emigre theme continues into another story 'The Man From God Knows Where' and several stories carry links to the Irish working in England . A strange scenario is played out in 'There is a Game Out There', a prisoner brought to a room at night and asked to test play a computer game and in 'Beyond' a woman appears to lose touch with reality.
McCormack has great observation of character, the things that annoy us about each other and the aspects of human weakness. There is nowhere to hide when these stories are being told, revealing things to the reader that they may uncomfortably identify with and other stories that are just plain obscure. Short stories seem to be having a renaissance and with writing of this standard it's not hard to see why.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
