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Product Description
Review
'Parks's short fiction confirms his credentials as an acute chronicler of midlife disillusionment' --The Guardian
'...the flatness of Park's diction and the extremities of emotion - grief, lust, anger, betrayal - that his stories describe is unnerving, almost pornographic, to read. The cumulative effect is strangely addictive, however - bathos jostling pathos in a stylised rendition of the random savagery of real life.' --The Telegraph
'This catch-all volume is clever and readable throughout' --Kirkus Review
'...the flatness of Park's diction and the extremities of emotion - grief, lust, anger, betrayal - that his stories describe is unnerving, almost pornographic, to read. The cumulative effect is strangely addictive, however - bathos jostling pathos in a stylised rendition of the random savagery of real life.' --The Telegraph
'This catch-all volume is clever and readable throughout' --Kirkus Review
Product Description
Collected here for the first time are the best stories from Tim Park's shorter fiction, spanning across his entire literary career and enriched by new stories written specifically for this publication. The title story of the collection, 'Talking About It', presents two friends, George and Michael, meeting ritually in a pub every night after a game of squash. While George recounts his increasingly extravagant sexual experiences, Michael listens on, meditating on how to redeem his boring and somewhat uneventful life. But then one day the tables turn, and Michael finds a way to outfox his friend and transfix his attention with a very interesting story. Whether describing the simmering warfare in an Italian condominium, the problems and pleasures of adultery, or the trappings of the generation game, these stories reveal Tim Park's deeply felt preoccupations with the inner workings of the human psyche and the dynamics of human relations.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
I recently read Tim Parks' novel "Cleaver" with great admiration and was particularly pleased to find a writer I had not encountered before.
Therefore, I was looking forward to reading his other works and was enthusiastic about this collection, as I like short stories.
Alas I got about one-third of the way through before giving up and checking that this was the same Tim Parks. It was difficult to believe that the same person had written both works.
The five stories I tackled here are so trite that I could not imagine how they were ever published.
There are baffling accounts of two middle-aged men sharing pornographic fantasies about their girlfriends paralleled later by two women - one young, one older - talking about their lovers.
There is a pointless story about the problems two foreigners living in Italy have in buying a flat that reeks of personal experience, as Parks lives in Italy, and a confused story about a couple who adopt an Asian child and put him in the care of their semi-senile mother-in-law.
If you read this Mr. Parks relax, I haven't given up on you but I hope this collection was an aberration.
Therefore, I was looking forward to reading his other works and was enthusiastic about this collection, as I like short stories.
Alas I got about one-third of the way through before giving up and checking that this was the same Tim Parks. It was difficult to believe that the same person had written both works.
The five stories I tackled here are so trite that I could not imagine how they were ever published.
There are baffling accounts of two middle-aged men sharing pornographic fantasies about their girlfriends paralleled later by two women - one young, one older - talking about their lovers.
There is a pointless story about the problems two foreigners living in Italy have in buying a flat that reeks of personal experience, as Parks lives in Italy, and a confused story about a couple who adopt an Asian child and put him in the care of their semi-senile mother-in-law.
If you read this Mr. Parks relax, I haven't given up on you but I hope this collection was an aberration.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The stories in this book made for very interesting reading and made me think a lot about relationships and human behaviour. The insight into, particularly male, psychology makes it well worth a read, but don't expect to be uplifted. Like the Film "Closer", for the most part this pulls at the heartstrings and reminds you of just how unpleasant people can be to each other.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
No wonder short stories have gone out of fashion
29 May 2012
Format:Paperback
I recently read Tim Parks' novel "Cleaver" with great admiration and was particularly pleased to find a writer I had not encountered before.
Therefore, I was looking forward to reading his other works and was enthusiastic about this collection, as I like short stories.
Alas I got about one-third of the way through before giving up and checking that this was the same Tim Parks. It was difficult to believe that the same person had written both works.
The five stories I tackled here are so trite that I could not imagine how they were ever published.
There are baffling accounts of two middle-aged men sharing pornographic fantasies about their girlfriends paralleled later by two women - one young, one older - talking about their lovers.
There is a pointless story about the problems two foreigners living in Italy have in buying a flat that reeks of personal experience, as Parks lives in Italy, and a confused story about a couple who adopt an Asian child and put him in the care of their semi-senile mother-in-law.
If you read this Mr. Parks relax, I haven't given up on you but I hope this collection was an aberration.
Therefore, I was looking forward to reading his other works and was enthusiastic about this collection, as I like short stories.
Alas I got about one-third of the way through before giving up and checking that this was the same Tim Parks. It was difficult to believe that the same person had written both works.
The five stories I tackled here are so trite that I could not imagine how they were ever published.
There are baffling accounts of two middle-aged men sharing pornographic fantasies about their girlfriends paralleled later by two women - one young, one older - talking about their lovers.
There is a pointless story about the problems two foreigners living in Italy have in buying a flat that reeks of personal experience, as Parks lives in Italy, and a confused story about a couple who adopt an Asian child and put him in the care of their semi-senile mother-in-law.
If you read this Mr. Parks relax, I haven't given up on you but I hope this collection was an aberration.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Tim Parks' shorter fiction under one cover for the first time
20 April 2006
Format:Hardcover
Not as many know the name of Tim Parks; but they should - and his shorter fiction appears here in TALKING ABOUT IT to reach newcomers and old fans alike. This gathers his shorter works under one cover for the first time and adds new stories written just for TALKING ABOUT IT: from long-time friendships and events to newfound revelations about living well, TALKING ABOUT IT offers many satisfying scenarios.
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