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Review
Playful, subversive, poetic and smart, Nik Perring's stories are
gems. Every one of them. --3:AM Magazine
gems. Every one of them. --3:AM Magazine
Don't be fooled by the title, this collection of stories rubs shoulders with perfect storytelling on numerous occasions. --Joe Melia. Coordinator of the The Bristol Short Story Prize
Product Description
22 short short stories; 22 not so perfect lives, where bird watchers come out at night, couples perform love surgery, and a woman is throwing up animals.
The extraordinary is everywhere, but an unsettling familiarity pervades.
Nik Perring's brilliant debut collection demonstrates the underestimated powers of brevity. Intricately crafted and filled with dark humour, his 22 stories examine the conundrums and contradictions of human relationships, and ask us what it is to be human at all.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
NOT SO PERFECT IS PERFECT!,
By
This review is from: Not So Perfect: Stories (Paperback)
Not So Perfect: Stories
Twenty-two perfect short stories told with humour and a clever eye for the intricate detail of human frailty. Nik Perring captures beautifully key moments of everyday life; communication, laughter, sadness, love and loss. The emotions experienced, linger in the mind of the reader for many hours and days. My favourites are Shark Boy and Lump. I suspect this is the first of many books from a rare talent - I certainly hope so! I highly recommend this book of short stories which pack an authentic emotional punch! Christine Carmichael
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfectly Delicious,
By
This review is from: Not So Perfect: Stories (Paperback)
My first impression of the book was how entirely gorgeous it is; the covers are artworks, the paper is thick, the font is pleasing and the size is just so unusual: square and begging to be gift-wrapped. There are twenty-two stories in total, each tiny, complete slivers of life. The reader slices through at a tangent: details, snatches of conversation, brushstroke backgrounds are picked up on the way past. Several of the stories spin around experimental concepts: a mechanical woman finds her perfect mate; a woman vomits animals; a gardener talks to his flowers, who listen; a man just fades away. You are trusted to not need explanation. For me they work as stories because you don't feel the need to ask why, although if you aren't a fan of the off-kilter this could be a drawback. Other stories are more conventional. My favourite of these is 'Sobs', about two lonely people in adjoining hotel rooms. Some stories are more successful than others, but all of them work as good flash fiction should: they are greater than the sum of their parts. In `Seconds are Ticking By' and `Shark Boy' I felt Nik Perring demonstrates just what flash fiction should be when it is perfect: they flew. Then they lodge themselves inside you and flutter for long after you've read them. If this book were food it would be an exquisite plate of petits fours. You admire them and nibble at them, wary of guzzling or you'd finish too soon. They are perfectly delicious.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Perfect Little Gem,
By
This review is from: Not So Perfect: Stories (Paperback)
Good things come in small packages. Not So Perfect is a tiny little square - 5 x 5 inches. But in this tiny package is a perfect collection of flash fiction. The stories in Nik Perring's debut collection reveal more than many novels and have real staying power. Long after I finished the book, I found my thoughts returning to its diverse characters, such as:
Shark Boy - who has to keep moving or he will die; the grumpy old man in Kiss whose love for his younger wife is only fully revealed after his death; the boy holding a grenade in Seconds Are Ticking By; and the heartbroken man in Say My Name. Many of these stories have a real kick at the end and I particularly enjoyed this aspect of My Heart's In A Box and Seconds Are Ticking By. Not So Perfect is as light as a feather, but there is nothing lightweight about its contents. Buy it - you will not be disappointed.
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