Reviews
Here are some places where people have mentioned my writing, always a thrill, if nerve-wracking:
"Possibly my favourite anthology of 2015 was Transactions of Desire (HOME Publications) edited by Omar Kholeif and Sarah Perks and published to coincide with an exhibition, 'The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things', at HOME. A number of stories stood out, in particular those by Emma Jane Unsworth, Adam O’Riordan, Jason Wood, Katie Popperwell and Greg Thorpe, whose ‘1961’ takes place against the backdrop of what has been called ‘the greatest night in showbusiness history’, the night Judy Garland played Carnegie Hall on 23 April 1961."
– From the Introduction to 'Best British Short Stories 2016', Nicholas Royle, Salt Publishing.
"If you are a Judy Garland fan, the date of this story tells it all. April 23, 1961, the night of the famous Garland Carnegie Hall concert that has been called "the greatest night in show business history." Garland sang 27 songs to an audience that included Henry Fonda, Lauren Bacall, Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and many other stars.
In a performance that was recorded by Capitol Records and released in a two-album set a few months later, it was interrupted by numerous applause, and when the first few bars of "Over the Rainbow" were played, they almost brought down the house. You can watch a pirated short home movie clip on You Tube, and if you have Amazon Prime, you can listen to the whole concert. That's what I am doing as I write this. Or maybe you have a copy of the old album, as many do. This story is built on the context of Garland's famous status as a gay icon. It focuses on a man in his mid-twenties in New York, who appears to be straight, but is attracted to an older man from Chicago he meets in a bar, who, albeit married, appears to be gay. They go to the famous Garland concert, but near the end, when Garland is singing "If Love Were All," the narrator rejects the man's modest advances and leaves. The story ends eight years later, when with his wife and son, he reads that Judy Garland is dead at 47. The story is delicate and restrained and works by saying very little. It is the clipped syntax of a lonely man who may or may not be gay caught on the cusp of, as he says, ""I don't know what to do about any of it."..."
http://may-on-the-short-story.blogspo...
Alan rated it: I really liked it, an excellent addition to the series with established writers like Leone Ross, Janice Galloway, Graham Mort and D J Taylor on top form. Also sharp pieces from writers I know like David Gaffney, Stuart Evers and John Saul. Of the unknowns (to me) I really liked the two stories named after years - 1961 and 1977 I think (I haven't got the book with me - will come back and fill in details), the one set in the call centre, the babies are coming! (Shepard), the one with the empty funeral urn (due to the super hot cremation no remains remain) set in the near future (I think), and the meditation on Belling oven control knobs. Excellent, engaging collection."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
"Possibly my favourite anthology of 2015 was Transactions of Desire (HOME Publications) edited by Omar Kholeif and Sarah Perks and published to coincide with an exhibition, 'The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things', at HOME. A number of stories stood out, in particular those by Emma Jane Unsworth, Adam O’Riordan, Jason Wood, Katie Popperwell and Greg Thorpe, whose ‘1961’ takes place against the backdrop of what has been called ‘the greatest night in showbusiness history’, the night Judy Garland played Carnegie Hall on 23 April 1961."
– From the Introduction to 'Best British Short Stories 2016', Nicholas Royle, Salt Publishing.
"If you are a Judy Garland fan, the date of this story tells it all. April 23, 1961, the night of the famous Garland Carnegie Hall concert that has been called "the greatest night in show business history." Garland sang 27 songs to an audience that included Henry Fonda, Lauren Bacall, Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, and many other stars.
In a performance that was recorded by Capitol Records and released in a two-album set a few months later, it was interrupted by numerous applause, and when the first few bars of "Over the Rainbow" were played, they almost brought down the house. You can watch a pirated short home movie clip on You Tube, and if you have Amazon Prime, you can listen to the whole concert. That's what I am doing as I write this. Or maybe you have a copy of the old album, as many do. This story is built on the context of Garland's famous status as a gay icon. It focuses on a man in his mid-twenties in New York, who appears to be straight, but is attracted to an older man from Chicago he meets in a bar, who, albeit married, appears to be gay. They go to the famous Garland concert, but near the end, when Garland is singing "If Love Were All," the narrator rejects the man's modest advances and leaves. The story ends eight years later, when with his wife and son, he reads that Judy Garland is dead at 47. The story is delicate and restrained and works by saying very little. It is the clipped syntax of a lonely man who may or may not be gay caught on the cusp of, as he says, ""I don't know what to do about any of it."..."
http://may-on-the-short-story.blogspo...
Alan rated it: I really liked it, an excellent addition to the series with established writers like Leone Ross, Janice Galloway, Graham Mort and D J Taylor on top form. Also sharp pieces from writers I know like David Gaffney, Stuart Evers and John Saul. Of the unknowns (to me) I really liked the two stories named after years - 1961 and 1977 I think (I haven't got the book with me - will come back and fill in details), the one set in the call centre, the babies are coming! (Shepard), the one with the empty funeral urn (due to the super hot cremation no remains remain) set in the near future (I think), and the meditation on Belling oven control knobs. Excellent, engaging collection."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
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