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Review
`queen of domestic wryness'
--The Guardian
"...Simpson's art is...refined for being so seemingly effortless, unforced and entertaining." --New Statesman
"This collection is as brilliant as her previous ones." --The Lady
"The collection as a whole is carefully organised, with the lightest piece butting against the most death-haunted one..." --Guardian
"if its subject matter is undeniably uncheery, it is written with a lightness of touch - and a deep but understated poeticism' --Telegraph
One of the most sharply funny writers in England today -- The Times Literary Supplement
'Simpson's gifts are a lyrical vocabulary, an authoritative form, a special funny-sad quality and a subtlety of understanding' -- The Times
'When it comes to contemporary maestros of the short-story form, Helen Simpson is up there with Alice Munro...' -- Sunday Times
Book of a Lifetime. -- Independent
Short story credits In Flight Entertainment. -- Sunday Times magazine
`Helen Simpson rarely puts a foot wrong in these stories. She is a wry, humane and brilliant observer of our peculiar condition' --The Independent
'Clever and sharp'
--Daily Mail
'Short-story maestro Simpson has produced a collection that asks a central question'. --The Sunday Times
'Wickedly funny and painfully true.' --The Times
`Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy these first-class stories from the mistress of the genre.'
--Tatler
There isn't a word wasted in the whole book, a virtuoso series of variations on a theme...Simpson does not miss a trick. --Mail on Sunday, Max Davidson
`acerbic, humorous portraits of middle-class metropolitan life' --The Independent
--The Guardian
"...Simpson's art is...refined for being so seemingly effortless, unforced and entertaining." --New Statesman
"This collection is as brilliant as her previous ones." --The Lady
"The collection as a whole is carefully organised, with the lightest piece butting against the most death-haunted one..." --Guardian
"if its subject matter is undeniably uncheery, it is written with a lightness of touch - and a deep but understated poeticism' --Telegraph
One of the most sharply funny writers in England today -- The Times Literary Supplement
'Simpson's gifts are a lyrical vocabulary, an authoritative form, a special funny-sad quality and a subtlety of understanding' -- The Times
'When it comes to contemporary maestros of the short-story form, Helen Simpson is up there with Alice Munro...' -- Sunday Times
Book of a Lifetime. -- Independent
Short story credits In Flight Entertainment. -- Sunday Times magazine
`Helen Simpson rarely puts a foot wrong in these stories. She is a wry, humane and brilliant observer of our peculiar condition' --The Independent
'Clever and sharp'
--Daily Mail
'Short-story maestro Simpson has produced a collection that asks a central question'. --The Sunday Times
'Wickedly funny and painfully true.' --The Times
`Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy these first-class stories from the mistress of the genre.'
--Tatler
There isn't a word wasted in the whole book, a virtuoso series of variations on a theme...Simpson does not miss a trick. --Mail on Sunday, Max Davidson
`acerbic, humorous portraits of middle-class metropolitan life' --The Independent
Book Description
'A masterful contemporary exponent of the genre. Simpson now deserves to be compared with Flannery O'Connor and Alice Munro' Observer
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Helen Simpson's new book contains some of her usual searing portraits of middle class life with its marriages and children but differently from her other books this one chooses to focus a lot on global warming. The writing is top notch as always and her gift for storytelling is apparent in every story here. It's one of the best short story collections I've read in the last couple of years, which, despite its shortness, stays with you longer than it takes to read.
The title story concerns a socratic dialogue between two men in the first class section of plane. One is a global warming denier, the other a believer and moreoever a scientist who contributed to the studies into global warming. What follows are some dire warnings about whats to come: mass death, the loss of every facet of our priveleged existence, society breaking down into martial law, every man for themselves until the planet is unable to sustain human life on the surface anymore. It stays with you more for its surety in its doomsday portents and the vivid way Simpson describes it, and also because you hope it never comes to pass.
Similar stories follow in the book: "Ahead of the Pack" satirises corporate culture meshing with global warming warnings; "The Tipping Point" features a man unable to sustain his relationship with a woman who is obsessed with bringing peoples' attentions to the urgency of global warming; "Geography Boy" is similar, contrasting medieval visions of the end of the world as depicted in Revelation. "Diary of an Interesting Year" is maybe the best story here. It takes place in 2040 and is told in diary snippets by a woman living in Simpson's dire future. She fights for survival and all the action takes place in between the entries. It's the strongest piece of storytelling I've read of hers and is a fantastic short story.
The non-global warming stories are good too. "Festival of the Immortals" is more light hearted featuring a book festival with world famous authors like the Bronte sisters and James Joyce, all of whom are alive and well in today's society. "Homework" is a mother helping her son with his creative writing homework and she tells him of an alternate life she envisioned for herself under the guise of homework help.
I really liked this book despite it's obsession with doom laden prophecies about our soon-to-be-extinct race. Impressive writing coupled with an acute storytelling sense bring these well conceived stories to life and prove to be Simpson's best book yet. A great read (though perhaps not for those looking for a cheerful pick-me-up).
The title story concerns a socratic dialogue between two men in the first class section of plane. One is a global warming denier, the other a believer and moreoever a scientist who contributed to the studies into global warming. What follows are some dire warnings about whats to come: mass death, the loss of every facet of our priveleged existence, society breaking down into martial law, every man for themselves until the planet is unable to sustain human life on the surface anymore. It stays with you more for its surety in its doomsday portents and the vivid way Simpson describes it, and also because you hope it never comes to pass.
Similar stories follow in the book: "Ahead of the Pack" satirises corporate culture meshing with global warming warnings; "The Tipping Point" features a man unable to sustain his relationship with a woman who is obsessed with bringing peoples' attentions to the urgency of global warming; "Geography Boy" is similar, contrasting medieval visions of the end of the world as depicted in Revelation. "Diary of an Interesting Year" is maybe the best story here. It takes place in 2040 and is told in diary snippets by a woman living in Simpson's dire future. She fights for survival and all the action takes place in between the entries. It's the strongest piece of storytelling I've read of hers and is a fantastic short story.
The non-global warming stories are good too. "Festival of the Immortals" is more light hearted featuring a book festival with world famous authors like the Bronte sisters and James Joyce, all of whom are alive and well in today's society. "Homework" is a mother helping her son with his creative writing homework and she tells him of an alternate life she envisioned for herself under the guise of homework help.
I really liked this book despite it's obsession with doom laden prophecies about our soon-to-be-extinct race. Impressive writing coupled with an acute storytelling sense bring these well conceived stories to life and prove to be Simpson's best book yet. A great read (though perhaps not for those looking for a cheerful pick-me-up).
Format:Hardcover
Helen Simpson is the best short story writer of our time. This collection received well-deserved rave reviews, it is laugh-out-loud funny and poignantly relevant. As The Times review said 'dangerously close to perfection'. Read it!
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book because I'd read 'Diary of an Interesting Year' in a Sunday magazine and enjoyed it so much I talked to friends about it and passed it on for others to read. I hoped, by buying the book, that I was in for a treat with several more, interesting and engrossing, tales but found instead that it was a rant about the damage we're doing to the environment. Some people might consider the stories to be interesting studies but I found the book uncomfortably un-entertaining and was very pleased that I hadn't taken it for in flight entertainment!
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