Robotic insects, in-growing cutlery, flesh-serving waiters in a zombie cafe... Welcome to the surreal, misshapen universe of Adam Marek's first collection; a bestiary of hybrids from the techno-crazed future and mythical past; a users guide to the seemingly obvious (and the world of illogic implicit within it). Whether fantastical or everyday in setting, Marek's stories lead us down to the engine room just beneath modern consciousness, a place of both atavism and familiarity, where the body is fluid, the spirit mechanised, and beasts often tell us more about our humanity than anything we can teach ourselves.
Instruction Manual For Swallowing
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
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
Frequently Bought Together
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
Review
'Early McEwan meets David Cronenberg.... genuine, unsettling talent.' --The Independent
'There's a transgressive thrill to Adam Marek's debut collection of short stories that's not simply a result of the potency of the subject matter... delightful.' --The Guardian
'Marek's fabulously meaty, funny writing makes the short story look really exciting again, pulling you, frame by frame, into a bright, strange future.' --Maggie Gee
'There's a transgressive thrill to Adam Marek's debut collection of short stories that's not simply a result of the potency of the subject matter... delightful.' --The Guardian
'Marek's fabulously meaty, funny writing makes the short story look really exciting again, pulling you, frame by frame, into a bright, strange future.' --Maggie Gee
About the Author
Adam Marek was born in 1974. His stories have appeared in Prospect magazine, New Writing 15 edited by Maggie Gee and Bernardine Evaristo, The Bridport Prize Anthology (2003 and 2005), Parenthesis, The New Uncanny, When It Changed edited by Geoff Ryman, and on-line at Pulp.net. In 2007, his story 'Testicular Cancer vs the Behemoth' was performed by Ian Hart (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dirt) at the WordTheatre event in London. His first full collection, Instruction Manual for Swallowing was published by Comma Press in 2007. He has since contributed short stories to Comma's anthologies The New Uncanny (2008) and When It Changed (2009) and has published a second short story collection, The Stone Thrower. He lives in Bedfordshire with his wife and sons.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I'm a big fan of JG Ballard. His short stories captivate my imagination; a recognisable world that suddenly twists, normal people go off-course and get caught up in major terrorist plots, crime, and strange internal or future worlds. So I was pleasantly surprised on picking up this book that Adam Marek takes the reader into a realm that strikes resonances both thematically and stylistically with Ballard and other authors such as Paul Auster and Douglas Coupland.
The stories are addictive and instantly readable, the first is about a man who goes to buy a new pet for his girlfriend and enters a closed and suffocating world of the pet shop owner who measures his animals in litres, and prizes his 40-litre monkey beyond anything else. Another that had me laughing out-loud and genuinely crying was the bizarre yet somehow poignant tale of Brendan and Doris, and their extreme multiple birth (37 babies to be precise). All of the characters are recognisable, their traits, their thoughts, their flaws. It is the extraordinary circumstances in which they find themselves that bring the stories to life.
As I travel to work by train, this book was ideal - the stories last just long enough for the journey, or are perfect pre-sleep wind down. But what really got me is that they stay with you. I keep thinking about the man that tried to find his sub-conscious, or how the loss of one of the babies made such a mark on Brendan. I've read another book since and these stories are still there, filtering through and making me think about how we make sense of our selves in what can be a really strange world.
I'd recommend this book, it should be celebrated for being a really good collection of short stories. It's not about them being easier or quicker to read because they're short, they work like this - it's how they should be. That said, if Marek does write a novel it'd go straight on my Wish List.
The stories are addictive and instantly readable, the first is about a man who goes to buy a new pet for his girlfriend and enters a closed and suffocating world of the pet shop owner who measures his animals in litres, and prizes his 40-litre monkey beyond anything else. Another that had me laughing out-loud and genuinely crying was the bizarre yet somehow poignant tale of Brendan and Doris, and their extreme multiple birth (37 babies to be precise). All of the characters are recognisable, their traits, their thoughts, their flaws. It is the extraordinary circumstances in which they find themselves that bring the stories to life.
As I travel to work by train, this book was ideal - the stories last just long enough for the journey, or are perfect pre-sleep wind down. But what really got me is that they stay with you. I keep thinking about the man that tried to find his sub-conscious, or how the loss of one of the babies made such a mark on Brendan. I've read another book since and these stories are still there, filtering through and making me think about how we make sense of our selves in what can be a really strange world.
I'd recommend this book, it should be celebrated for being a really good collection of short stories. It's not about them being easier or quicker to read because they're short, they work like this - it's how they should be. That said, if Marek does write a novel it'd go straight on my Wish List.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Over the years, things moved from impulsive to compulsive. Now we've reached repulsive, and that's why I'm writing this.
30 Dec 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I love this book. When I was young I was a big Roald Dahl fan, and I still am. Marek's stories reminded me a great deal of Dahl - they are very funny, and they are very grotesque.
My favourite story is The Thorn. A young boy gets a splinter in his toe, which his gran and grandad help him to remove and I'll tell you something - it ain't a thorn. I writhed while reading this one, Marek's writing is sublime and I felt the young boy's pain.
My favourite thing about this collection of short stories is that, unlike Dahl, they read as fact. Marek makes every idea seem believable, without a hint that these ideas should be nonsense. Name me one person who hasn't lived in a giant centipede's lair, or gestated 37 babies.
I have to say, everytime I came to the end of a story and saw the final paragraph in sight, I was gutted. This book is brilliant.
My favourite story is The Thorn. A young boy gets a splinter in his toe, which his gran and grandad help him to remove and I'll tell you something - it ain't a thorn. I writhed while reading this one, Marek's writing is sublime and I felt the young boy's pain.
My favourite thing about this collection of short stories is that, unlike Dahl, they read as fact. Marek makes every idea seem believable, without a hint that these ideas should be nonsense. Name me one person who hasn't lived in a giant centipede's lair, or gestated 37 babies.
I have to say, everytime I came to the end of a story and saw the final paragraph in sight, I was gutted. This book is brilliant.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By mezza
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I think it's a real shame that short stories don't get the attention that larger tomes get.
This collection is at the top of the tree when it comes to unique and interesting ideas. Mr. Marek writes with a great prose style and pulls you into these very different worlds story by story.
I bought this on the review basis that it was a bit like Roald Dahk and that seems true to me, the stories seem like Roald Dahl for the generation that grew up reading Dahl and are now adults.
I was smiling as the stories developed and took me on some very imaginative journeys. Great reading and as I think Iv'e underlined a very good collection indeed. Quirky and Contemporary.
This collection is at the top of the tree when it comes to unique and interesting ideas. Mr. Marek writes with a great prose style and pulls you into these very different worlds story by story.
I bought this on the review basis that it was a bit like Roald Dahk and that seems true to me, the stories seem like Roald Dahl for the generation that grew up reading Dahl and are now adults.
I was smiling as the stories developed and took me on some very imaginative journeys. Great reading and as I think Iv'e underlined a very good collection indeed. Quirky and Contemporary.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky and well written
I thoroughly enjoyed this book of short stories, they were quirky and beautifully written. I particularly enjoyed 'The 40 litre monkey' and 'Meaty's boys', it would be great to... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Hypolyta Cosmopolita
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good service
As always, the book arrived promptly and in good condition. Story was okay, nothing outstanding. I was trying out a new author so didn't have great expectations.
Published 12 months ago by Mrs. Jeanice E. Singh
4.0 out of 5 stars
Instruction Manual for Swallowing by Adam Marek
Adam Marek's first wide scale appearance was in the Bridport Prize Anthology 2003 and again in 2005. Read more
Published on 17 Aug 2010 by K. M. Knight
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellant stuff.
The stories all have ordinary premises mixed with surreal psychological twists which are perculiar in their witting charm. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2010 by A. Chow
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beguilingly entertaining
Pets being sold by volume rather than weight, extreme multiple births, a giant talking centipede and flesh-eating zombies might seem unusual literary bedfellows but this collection... Read more
Published on 5 May 2008 by A. J. Logan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastically Funny
It has been over 10 years since I read a book that enthralled me as much as this. It is compulsive reading with characters you know and love and others' traits you despise. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2007 by Gina M. Inman
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.
|
