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Product Description
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
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format: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
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
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Nik Perring was a chap who I met at Congleton Library, which was hosting a special Literary Evening featuring local authors and writers. Hearing about his life and work made for enlightening discussion, and to hear him read one of his short stories was enough to make me want to check out this particular collection.
Not So Perfect features twenty-two of Nick's short stories. The premise is focusing on twenty-two extraordinary circumstances, with the lives of folks who are notably flawed, yet possess potential for hope, a capacity for love and can achieve happiness through confidence and if fate permits it.
All and each of the stories contained here are simple, yet rich in both variety and power. Every single story I read in Not So Perfect had a great impact on me, filling me with senses of hope, sadness, loss, tragedy, satisfaction, contentment, despair and elation. All in all, this very much reflects human nature and life itself, but nothing is overstated or contrived. It feels natural and plausible, ultimately making this book rather endearing.
Perring's short stories range from radical to grounded, packed with all kinds of wonderful metaphors, philosophies and real imaginative flair. The author's writing itself is wonderful and accessible. Anyone can pick up Not So Perfect and understand the meaning of Nik's message to the world. It's not only concise, it's just loaded with charm.
There's not a single dud story to be found in Not So Perfect, but the ones I would really recommend are "Kiss", "Shark Boy", "Not Nitro", "Watching, Listening", "My Heart's in a Box", "Two Old Women Watching in My Garden", "The Other Mr Panossian", "Sobs", "The Angel in the Car Park" and "Number 14". To me, these made for the most essential readings. Others will find their own favourites, but all will surely agree that there's nothing but all-round excellence to be found in this cracking little book.
If I was forced to find fault, then maybe it would be that this collection is too short and over before you know it. But that's just a petty nitpick. Not So Perfect is the complete opposite of its title. It's a virtually faultless collection of delightful short stories that will satisfy all readers, writers, reviewers and critics. Simply top-notch stuff from Nik Perring! Check it out!
Not So Perfect features twenty-two of Nick's short stories. The premise is focusing on twenty-two extraordinary circumstances, with the lives of folks who are notably flawed, yet possess potential for hope, a capacity for love and can achieve happiness through confidence and if fate permits it.
All and each of the stories contained here are simple, yet rich in both variety and power. Every single story I read in Not So Perfect had a great impact on me, filling me with senses of hope, sadness, loss, tragedy, satisfaction, contentment, despair and elation. All in all, this very much reflects human nature and life itself, but nothing is overstated or contrived. It feels natural and plausible, ultimately making this book rather endearing.
Perring's short stories range from radical to grounded, packed with all kinds of wonderful metaphors, philosophies and real imaginative flair. The author's writing itself is wonderful and accessible. Anyone can pick up Not So Perfect and understand the meaning of Nik's message to the world. It's not only concise, it's just loaded with charm.
There's not a single dud story to be found in Not So Perfect, but the ones I would really recommend are "Kiss", "Shark Boy", "Not Nitro", "Watching, Listening", "My Heart's in a Box", "Two Old Women Watching in My Garden", "The Other Mr Panossian", "Sobs", "The Angel in the Car Park" and "Number 14". To me, these made for the most essential readings. Others will find their own favourites, but all will surely agree that there's nothing but all-round excellence to be found in this cracking little book.
If I was forced to find fault, then maybe it would be that this collection is too short and over before you know it. But that's just a petty nitpick. Not So Perfect is the complete opposite of its title. It's a virtually faultless collection of delightful short stories that will satisfy all readers, writers, reviewers and critics. Simply top-notch stuff from Nik Perring! Check it out!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Perfect Little Gem
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. Read more
Published 13 months ago by DMM
Wonderfully Wonky
`Not So Perfect' is a breathtaking collection. Lost love, abandonment, longing, sex, lust, purity, food, this collection takes the mundane, the everyday and twirls it into a... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Caroline_LS
Glorious ammunition to fire at those who link brevity with...
These short short stories are glorious ammunition to fire at those who link brevity with insubstantiality. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Tania Hershman
Not So Perfect ? Oh I beg to differ
Nik Perring has a fantastic way of taking everyday situations, the ordinary, and turning them into something completely, extraordinary. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Steve Murphy
The right amount of words
The first thing that struck me about Not So Perfect by Nik Perring was the length of the stories, they are indeed short, short stories. Read more
Published 13 months ago by DecodingStatic
Highly Recommended
This is one of my favourite short story collections.
It's touching, quirky, and entertaining throughout. Read more
It's touching, quirky, and entertaining throughout. Read more
Published 15 months ago by RPW
Don't believe the title!
This book is an example of something not doing what it says on the tin. The stories are perfect. For reasons that lots of other people have given. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Nicola
Little stories with lots of heart.
`Not so Perfect' is a collection of 22 short short fictions presented in a beautifully small square volume. Read more
Published 24 months ago by danpowfiction
Delicious Morsels
These are delectable tiny stories, which are often tender and always leave you satisfied. Once you finish one, you have to read another because they are so more-ish. Read more
Published on 29 May 2010 by Joanna M. Campbell
Delicious And Beautiful Morsels
Nik Perring has a well-developed imagination and he is not afraid to use it. Written in prose so beautifully honed it's almost poetry, each of these stories is an amuse bouche for... Read more
Published on 25 May 2010 by Dr. H. Kara
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