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To Cut a Long Story Short
 
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To Cut a Long Story Short (Hardcover)

by Jeffrey Archer (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £16.99
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To Cut a Long Story Short + Cat O' Nine Tales + Twist in the Tale
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  • This item: To Cut a Long Story Short by Jeffrey Archer

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (6 Mar 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0002261499
  • ISBN-13: 978-0002261494
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 682,965 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Fraud, deceit, deception, lying, bankruptcy, infidelity: these are the recurrent themes that concern Jeffrey Archer in his fourth collection of short stories, To Cut a Long Story Short. Of the 14 stories gathered here, nine are asterisked as being "based on true incidents" but the whole collection is remarkable for the extent to which Archer's own chequered career finds echoes in his fiction. In "Crime Pays", Kenny Merchant--"that wasn't his real name, but then, little was real about Kenny" finds an ingenious loophole in the Data Protection Act to make a financial killing, while in "The Letter" a wife enjoys reading a kinky love letter from her lover (a well-known novelist) in front of her husband. Her lover recalls making love in "the loo at the Caprice" and fantasises about "being tied to a four-poster bed, with you standing over me in a police sergeant's uniform".

In one of the few stories that does not involve people conning one another, "The Grass is Greener", the moral of the story appears to be that the head of an international bank experiences more pain and personal turmoil than Bill the beggar who sits on the street outside. In "A Change of Heart", a racist white South African devotes himself to doing good for the black community after receiving a black man's heart following a near-fatal car accident. Archer's fans will undoubtedly enjoy this collection but other readers may find its relish for duplicity rather dubious or at best find its sentimental morality rather cloying. --Guy Smit --This text refers to the Paperback edition.



Amazon.co.uk Review

Fraud, deceit, deception, lying, bankruptcy, infidelity: these are the recurrent themes that concern Jeffrey Archer in his fourth collection of short stories, To Cut a Long Story Short. Of the 14 stories gathered here, nine are asterisked as being "based on true incidents" but the whole collection is remarkable for the extent to which Archer's own chequered career finds echoes in his fiction. In "Crime Pays", Kenny Merchant--"that wasn't his real name, but then, little was real about Kenny" finds an ingenious loophole in the Data Protection Act to make a financial killing, whilst in "The Letter" a wife enjoys reading a kinky love letter from her lover (a well-known novelist) in front of her husband. Her lover recalls making love in "the loo at the Caprice" and fantasises about "being tied to a four-poster bed, with you standing over me in a police sergeant's uniform".

In one of the few stories that does not involve people conning one another, "The Grass is Greener", the moral of the story appears to be that the head of an international bank experiences more pain and personal turmoil than Bill the beggar who sits on the street outside. In A Change of Heart, a racist white South African devotes himself to doing good for the black community after receiving a black man's heart following a near-fatal car accident. Archer's fans will undoubtedly enjoy this collection but other readers may find its relish for duplicity rather dubious or at best find its sentimental morality rather cloying. --Guy Smit


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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another splendid example of Archer at his best., 24 April 2001
By A Customer
On offer is another full plate of delectable short stories. Some of them are based on true events. This is yet another excellent example of Archer at his best.

From the very start you have a fine short story which took all of 30 seconds to read. How did he do that?

May we ask Jeffrey to keep rolling them out.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, 12 Aug 2001
By A Customer
This is one of those books that when you start one of the short stories, you simply cannot go on until you have finished it. The classic example of this is Endgame which is a thoroughly fascinating story and keeps you interested all the way through. Chalk and Cheese is also highly entertaining.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Master storyteller, 16 Aug 2009
By Alan Bold - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I am a Jeffery Archer fan, particularly of the short stories, and this new collection is as good as ever, varied, highly readable, with some good twists. Some are acknowledged to be based on true events, though on the whole I prefer the original ones. The publisher's blurb states that the last story, "The grass is always greener" is the best ever. Certainly well written with up to date characters, but this basic idea is not original. Stacy Aumonier got there first with "The octave of jealousy" from the collection "Miss Bracwegirdle and others",published around 1930. For me Archer's best short story is "Old love" from "A quiver full of arrows."

Alan Bold
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars tepid storytelling
Surprised by all the good reviews, as I found this very dull and functional writing. None of the stories were overly interesting, clever or engaging. Read more
Published 6 months ago by N. Brett

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Briiliant
Loved it - repeated the stories to others. Love the twists and turns. Recommended for light reading. - Excellent for a holiday away book. Thanks Jeffery. x
Published 8 months ago by Annie Fairbairn

5.0 out of 5 stars captivating stories
These fascinating stories are perfect reading on holidays, public transport et. al. I strongy recommend them.
Published on 14 Dec 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected
When I first picked up this book, I have benchmark my expectations against Archer's other short stories collection. How wrong I was. Read more
Published on 28 Jul 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Super - Easy to read in segments - Book
This was a great holiday book.

You can read one story when you have time, and not have to remember what happened in the past chapter.

Easy going but compelling stories. Read more

Published on 16 Jul 2000 by Goldenballs

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