Review
"'Sleaze, art, violence - Royle packs it all in, the pages flying by' Uncut 'One of the things Royle does excellently is portray the inner life of contemporary urban intellectuals' Time Out 'A gory but erotic thriller... This is a chilling and exhilarating read' Peter Guttridge, Observer 'A mesmerising blend of surrealism, satire and thriller... Uncanny, stylish and elusive: a fictional answer to the strangest art-house noir' Independent 'The only writer I'd happily describe as a cross between Iain Sinclair and Ian Rankin' Big Issue in the North"
Product Description
An amateur goalkeeper is frozen solid in a moment of ecstasy as he makes his perfect save. A young man finds himself drawn into the auto-erotic asphyxiation fantasies of his deceased uncle. Two men hunt the elusive Scottish wildcat, one of them a cuckold, the other his cuckolder. A photographer navigates the rapids of London?s fashion-media elite and struggles to remain afloat in a sea of drugs. From Amsterdam to deepest Devon, from Naples to New York, and from all corners of London to Manchester?s Northern Quarter, these stories feature a parade of mad women, male neurotics, lovesick morticians, frustrated pizza waiters and psychotic serial killers. Like a funnier Ian McEwan or a kinder Will Self, Nicholas Royle?s tales are skewed vignettes of the way we live now.
About the Author
Nicholas Royle was born in Manchester in 1963. He is the author of five novels, including Antwerp. An assiduous champion of the short story, he has written more than 100 tales, which have appeared in a variety of anthologies and magazines. His latest collection is Mortality, shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. He has edited twelve anthologies, including A Book of Two Halves and The Time Out Book of New York Short Stories. He lives in Manchester with his wife and two children, where he teaches creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
