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Town and Country
With Town and Country: New Irish Short Stories, edited by Kevin Barry, Faber are delighted to present a fourth collection of all new Irish short stories.
Edited by award winning novelist and short story writer Kevin Barry, this volume will once again mix established names with previously unpublished authors, and will seek to offer fresh renditions to the Irish story - new angles, new approaches, new modes of attack.
Published in 2011, New Irish Short Stories, edited by Joseph O'Connor, has sold over 10,000 copies to date and featured Kevin Barry's 'Beer Trip to Llandudno' - winner of the 2012 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize - as well as stories by William Trevor, Dermot Bolger and Roddy Doyle which went on to be Afternoon Readings on BBC Radio 4.
Edited by award winning novelist and short story writer Kevin Barry, this volume will once again mix established names with previously unpublished authors, and will seek to offer fresh renditions to the Irish story - new angles, new approaches, new modes of attack.
Published in 2011, New Irish Short Stories, edited by Joseph O'Connor, has sold over 10,000 copies to date and featured Kevin Barry's 'Beer Trip to Llandudno' - winner of the 2012 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize - as well as stories by William Trevor, Dermot Bolger and Roddy Doyle which went on to be Afternoon Readings on BBC Radio 4.
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2013
11 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Barry
80 books1,206 followersKevin Barry is an Irish writer. He is the author of two collections of short stories, and the novel City of Bohane, which was the winner of the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 4, 2016
I am a big fan of the short story. After reading this contemporary collection I came to understand my love of the form is closely aligned with traditional approaches to short stories. Authors like Alice Munro, William Trevor, among many others subscribe to the formula I appreciate - concise, sometimes intense, bites of a life.
Barry's collection includes both novice and well known writers. I liked some - for example Julian Gough's "Earworm" because I am familiar with the author and his outlandish style. Molly McCloskey's "City of Glass" appealed to me and Paul Murray's "How I Beat the Devil" was amusing. But many of the stories failed to engage me in the way the form usually does.
Barry himself is a very untraditional writer and at times outrageous. I like his writing a lot and it seems he selected stories that aligned with his own taste. This is likely a collection that will appeal to readers and writers who like unconventional styles.
Barry's collection includes both novice and well known writers. I liked some - for example Julian Gough's "Earworm" because I am familiar with the author and his outlandish style. Molly McCloskey's "City of Glass" appealed to me and Paul Murray's "How I Beat the Devil" was amusing. But many of the stories failed to engage me in the way the form usually does.
Barry himself is a very untraditional writer and at times outrageous. I like his writing a lot and it seems he selected stories that aligned with his own taste. This is likely a collection that will appeal to readers and writers who like unconventional styles.
December 30, 2024
I never met a short story collection I didn't like. Well, that is until this one came along. Kevin Barry, one of the finest practitioners of the format himself, edited this selection of Irish writing, but for the most part they don't rise to his high standards.
There is no real connecting theme to the anthology, except maybe a sense that the majority of the protagonists are outsiders. A couple of the stories stood out, to be fair. Colin Barrett's The Clancy Kid is a bleak tale of love turned to heartbreak and retribution. And Barcelona, by Mary Costello, is a haunting account of a woman attempting to rescue her marriage on a city break, but finding her doubts confirmed. Even though I didn't enjoy Town and Country on the whole, I must thank this book for introducing me to her writing.
There is no real connecting theme to the anthology, except maybe a sense that the majority of the protagonists are outsiders. A couple of the stories stood out, to be fair. Colin Barrett's The Clancy Kid is a bleak tale of love turned to heartbreak and retribution. And Barcelona, by Mary Costello, is a haunting account of a woman attempting to rescue her marriage on a city break, but finding her doubts confirmed. Even though I didn't enjoy Town and Country on the whole, I must thank this book for introducing me to her writing.
August 23, 2020
3.5 stars - didn't really connect with the first two or three stories I read (not in order), and thought oh dear, but then I read the fabulous The Clancy Kid by Colin Barret (which I'd already read in his great collection Young Skins), followed by several other good-to-great pieces, and the collection was saved. So, as with most anthologies, didn;t like everything, but enough to make for a good read.
February 16, 2024
After reading several mediocre short stories in the beginning of the book, I was close to abandoning this collection and giving it a 2. However, "Summer's Wreath" by Eilis Ni Dhuibhne completely changed my perspective. It is, without a doubt, the finest short story I've read in a long time and a true treasure for any book lover. I must mention a spoiler here: the story's subtle nods to Chekhov, referred to only as "an unknown Russian author," and the cryptic depiction of a secret summer in Katherine Mansfield's life—without explicitly naming her—are a work of a genius.
December 29, 2013
I bought this book in Dublin and was excited to try out a sampling of current Irish authors. However, like many anthologies, the stories were a bit mixed. That comes with the territory. I definitely am glad that I read this, though, because it introduced me to several writers that I really want to read more from. That definitely makes up for the two stories that I didn't understand at all. (And the two-three stories that were just annoying!)
The four best stories in this collection, in my opinion, were:
The Summer Wreath by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne: This was an amazing look at a young woman who moves to another town when she discovers that she is pregnant, and the freedom/adventures she has while she is there. This story had the perfect mixture of interesting plot and beautiful writing. I am so very happy that I happened to pick up a collection of her most recent stories while in Dingle!
The Ladder by Sheila Purdy: It's been awhile since I've read something that so perfectly captures 21st century white-collar office life. This story had sparse writing but managed to be moving and funny at the same time. This author is fairly young, so I'll have to keep on the lookout for her debut collection.
Earworm by Julian Gough: This was a weird, 1984-esque tale that was all about manufacturing the best earworm ever; an earworm so powerful that it will cause people to just stop working and living. I loved it. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that he used to be a singer in a big rock band. He's written other works, none of which sound appealing on the surface, but that I might pick up solely because I loved this story so much!
How I Beat the Devil by Paul Murray: Wow, what an imaginative story! The character of the devil is no stranger to Irish fiction, but this hilarious story is the best I've seen it done. Now I feel so silly for ignoring all the raves about Skippy Dies. Adding that to my to-read shelf right now!
The four best stories in this collection, in my opinion, were:
The Summer Wreath by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne: This was an amazing look at a young woman who moves to another town when she discovers that she is pregnant, and the freedom/adventures she has while she is there. This story had the perfect mixture of interesting plot and beautiful writing. I am so very happy that I happened to pick up a collection of her most recent stories while in Dingle!
The Ladder by Sheila Purdy: It's been awhile since I've read something that so perfectly captures 21st century white-collar office life. This story had sparse writing but managed to be moving and funny at the same time. This author is fairly young, so I'll have to keep on the lookout for her debut collection.
Earworm by Julian Gough: This was a weird, 1984-esque tale that was all about manufacturing the best earworm ever; an earworm so powerful that it will cause people to just stop working and living. I loved it. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that he used to be a singer in a big rock band. He's written other works, none of which sound appealing on the surface, but that I might pick up solely because I loved this story so much!
How I Beat the Devil by Paul Murray: Wow, what an imaginative story! The character of the devil is no stranger to Irish fiction, but this hilarious story is the best I've seen it done. Now I feel so silly for ignoring all the raves about Skippy Dies. Adding that to my to-read shelf right now!
June 24, 2018
A mixed bag but some very enjoyable stories. I picked the book because I enjoyed Kévin Barry's own short stories so much. The works here are similar in that many of them focus on marginal people. I particularly liked earworm the first story and how I beat the Devil by Paul Murray whose first two novels I also loved.
September 26, 2018
The collection overall Was hit-and-miss for me, but the ‘hits’ I found to be exceptional. “Earworm” and “How I Beat the Devil” are outstanding. Several other selections are also solid (“While You Were Working,” “Paper and Ashes,” “The Mark of Death,” and “Images” come to mind).
August 13, 2023
Short story anthologies are usually a mixed bag, but this one is just banger after banger. From the first story on, I was hooked. If this is the Irish short story today, the Irish short story is thriving.
July 14, 2018
Well its a collection of short stories from a selection of vastly different writers so naturally some are very good and some are not so good.
March 3, 2023
I will so much read it again!
February 21, 2017
Excellent collection of short stories varied in topic and style. Something for everyone if you like the short story format.
Very enjoyable collection of short stories from well established and lesser known ones. Variety of style and topics and something for everyone in this book.
Has encouraged me to research the lesser known novelists and has sparked my interest in their own publications.
Very enjoyable collection of short stories from well established and lesser known ones. Variety of style and topics and something for everyone in this book.
Has encouraged me to research the lesser known novelists and has sparked my interest in their own publications.
May 4, 2016
This collection was a bit of an odd one and I find myself having to readjust my expectations after reading it. I heard of it when it came out but I have recently finished Donal Ryan's A Slanting of the Sun and read it hoping it might be similar but it was in no way as exciting..I found some of the stories hard to connect with and quite frankly boring but the ones that were good were brilliant.
My favourite story by a mile was Summer's Wreath by Eilis Ni Dhuibhne. It is is a singularly surreal and beautiful story dealing with summer, nostalgia and the experience of being a young woman in a strange place. I look forward to reading more by her. Other stories I loved were Images (ghostly, unusual)and Earworm (Amazing!) . They were really different and exciting.
Godigums, How I Beat the Devil and Joyride were also great gritty stories that really made me think. I also liked Saturday, Boring and The Clancy Kid. Paper and Ashes was also pretty good.
There were a few other that were okay but I guess collection was a great way to sample the authors of the stories mentioned above in order to get a feel for their style before reading a longer work by them. In this way the book was great. As an Irish collection I also loved how it wasn't restricted to Ireland as a setting.
My favourite story by a mile was Summer's Wreath by Eilis Ni Dhuibhne. It is is a singularly surreal and beautiful story dealing with summer, nostalgia and the experience of being a young woman in a strange place. I look forward to reading more by her. Other stories I loved were Images (ghostly, unusual)and Earworm (Amazing!) . They were really different and exciting.
Godigums, How I Beat the Devil and Joyride were also great gritty stories that really made me think. I also liked Saturday, Boring and The Clancy Kid. Paper and Ashes was also pretty good.
There were a few other that were okay but I guess collection was a great way to sample the authors of the stories mentioned above in order to get a feel for their style before reading a longer work by them. In this way the book was great. As an Irish collection I also loved how it wasn't restricted to Ireland as a setting.
March 2, 2014
A volume edited by the now well known, multi-award winning and eminent short story writer Kevin Barry. This is a mixed bag, with established writers and new names. There are a couple of duds in my opinion, but, most, as expected, are different in style and theme. There are the usual themes of desolation, loneliness, bereavement, small-town insular life and personal sadness and frustration, but, also, innovative imagination, some satire and a good deal of black humour. The new names give a good portrayal of today's Ireland - they have the freedom to do so - with new approaches to the Irish short story a lot reflecting from their increased travelling - new themes and angles, including different and modern sexuality and morality, to hold the readers' attention and continue their page turning. Little of the cursed and over worn Irish themes of guilt and religion thank God! A good book to be dipped in and out of on a trip or busy period in one's life. The Irish genre is in safe hands.
February 18, 2015
Contemporary short story collections are usually mixed bags; this is no different, but it's definitely more satisfying than most. The ones that work are the ones that could only be short stories. Julian Gough's Earworm fantasises about an irresistible song that paralyses the world would be silly if it were any longer. Sheila Purdy's second-person narrative The Ladder, for my money the best story in this collection, is one of those stories that microscopically distill a single moment, and in doing so imply a much larger story.
April 5, 2016
As well as town and country, this eclectic collection also takes in Cadiz and Croatia, beauty and brutality, teenage dreams of sex and later-life dementia, a global IT virus and the tale of what happened when the Devil took a two week holiday in a caravan park in West Cork. Such variety means you'll not take to everything but I thought the gems shone brightly. Favourite story: The Ladder by Sheila Purdy.
February 22, 2016
A rather lack-luster collection of short stories, all of which were well-written, but ultimately forgettable. I was hoping for a little more insight into what it means to be "Irish", but I suppose the whole idea is that it's getting harder and harder to link ourselves to our geography in this day and age. M'eh.
May 28, 2013
Have written a full review on my blog www.rozz.ie
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews