VintageClassics:CollectedStories

"Charactersallbutleapoffthepagewithbelievabilityinthesemarvellousstoriesoflife(anddeath)inBelfast."--TheSundayTimesMeldinghisnativeIrishsensibilitiestothoseofhisadoptedwest-coastScotland，thesetalesattendtolife'sbigevents：loveandloss，separationandviolence，deathandbetrayal.Butthestoriesteemwithsmallersignificantmomentstoo--privateepiphanies，chillingexchanges，intimateencounters.Eachoftheseextraordinarystories--withtheirwry，self-deprecatinghumour，theireleganceandsubtlewisdom--getstotheveryheartoflife.?Spanningoveralmostfortyyearswork，thisisthefirsttimeMacLaverty'sstoriesarecollectedtogether，ForthefirsttimeallofBernardMacLaverty?sunforgettableshortstoriesaregatheredtogether，withanewintroductionbytheauthorMeldinghisnativeIrishsensibilitiestothoseofhisadoptedwest-coastScotland，thesetalesattendtolife?sbigevents：loveandloss，separationandviolence，deathandbetrayal.Butthestoriesteemwithsmallersignificantmomentstoo?privateepiphanies，chillingexchanges，intimateencounters.Eachoftheseextraordinarystories?withtheirwry，self-deprecatinghumor，theirelegance，andsubtlewisdom?getstotheveryheartoflife.SincethepublicationofSecretsandOtherStoriesin1977，BernardMacLavertyhasbeencelebratedasoneofthefinestlivingshort-storywriters.WritingintheNewYorkTimes，WilliamBoydsummonedtheshadesofYeats，Joyce，andFlannO'Brien，insistingthat"MacLavertysitsperfectlycomfortably"intheircompany.