Pretty Ugly

by Kirsty Gunn

Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn is the inaugural title in a new series of short story collections from Landfall Tauraka and Otago University Press, celebrating the art of short fiction in Aotearoa New Zealand.

In Pretty Ugly, Kirsty Gunn reminds us that ambiguity and complication are elemental forces in a human life, and grist to the storyteller’s mill. These 13 darkly compelling stories, set in New Zealand and in the UK, are testament to Gunn’s unrivalled ability to look directly into the troubled human heart and draw out what dwells there. The ‘ugly’ of these stories, she writes, is to do with ‘considering how much a person’s life can bear’.

Longings, compulsions, jealousies, dreams; ambitions realised, desires denied: Gunn’s steady, clear-eyed gaze unsettles complacencies, reveals duplicities, and gathers us all into the fold. She brings unease and compassion for the human condition in equal measure to the page. Each of these stories is an exquisite, thorn-sharp bouquet.

Genres: Short Stories

Paperback

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Kirsty Gunn was born in 1960 in New Zealand and educated at Queen Margaret College and Victoria University, Wellington, and at Oxford, where she completed an M.Phil. After moving to London she worked as a freelance journalist.

Her fiction includes the acclaimed Rain (1994), the story of an adolescent girl and the break-up of her family, for which she won a London Arts Board Literature Award; The Keepsake (1997), the fragmented narrative of a young woman recalling painful memories; and Featherstone (2002), a story concerned with love in all its variety. Her short stories have been included in many anthologies including The Junky's Christmas and Other Yuletide Stories (1994) and The Faber Book of Contemporary Stories about Childhood (1997).

She is also author of This Place You Return To Is Home (1999), a collection of short stories, and in 2001 she was awarded a Scottish Arts Council Writer's Bursary. Her latest books are The Boy and the Sea (2006), winner of the 2007 Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award; and 44 Things (2007), a book of personal reflections over the course of one year.

Kirsty Gunn lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Reviews

[izzy]

“and is it fear of being left behind or leaving that i’ve got? frightened to be there, in that dark room, or of the house where i’ve come from? frightened to be where my life is now, or back where it used to be?”

3,5 ⭐️ ! not all of the stories were my style but the few that i liked i Liked very much. really adore the writing tho

[Piper]

Kirsty Gunn has this very distinctive way of writing a sort of looping, uneasy stream of consciousness and then destabilising it by getting all meta. It worked quite well for the nature of the stories being told here. There was also a surprising amount of anti wind turbine sentiment.
I liked Praxis, or Why Joan Collins is Important and King Country particularly.

[Michael Godwin]

Pretty Ugly is a darkly compelling collection of short stories that takes an unflinching look at the contradictions, desires, and emotional complications that shape human lives. Across thirteen stories set in New Zealand and the UK, Kirsty Gunn explores the uneasy spaces between longing and disappointment, ambition and denial, intimacy and deception.

What makes the collection particularly striking is Gunn’s willingness to examine the difficult parts of being human without reducing them to simple explanations. Her characters appear to carry private conflicts that gradually expose the fragility beneath everyday life, creating stories that can be both unsettling and deeply compassionate.

The collection’s exploration of what a person’s life can bear gives the stories an emotional thread that connects their different circumstances. Longings, compulsions, jealousies, dreams, and unfulfilled desires become ways of examining how people respond when life places pressure on their expectations and relationships.

Gunn’s clear eyed storytelling creates a distinctive balance between discomfort and empathy. The result is a collection that does not simply entertain but encourages readers to look more closely at human behavior, vulnerability, and the complicated motivations that often remain hidden beneath the surface.

For readers who enjoy literary short fiction, psychologically rich characters, dark emotional storytelling, and stories that explore the complexities of the human condition, Pretty Ugly offers a thoughtful and memorable reading experience.

[Bridget]

I went to an author talk by Kirsty Gunn recently and had to come away with this book. She was so interesting to listen to and I was totally hooked by her reading. This book is an uncomfortable read. At times I laughed, other times I found myself squirming in my seat - I read a few of the stories on a flight. Each story has elements of the ugly side of human nature in different ways, all of them challenge you. Some stories I found, made me recognise some of the less charitable parts of myself, and others made me gasp with the characters hard heartedness. Challenging and interesting, it isn't for those who want a cozy read.

[Kathryn Fitzpatrick]

Short stories where a seemingly pleasant situation shows an ugly side, or vice versa. I challenged myself with this one as I prefer the long journey of a novel. Each story captures a distinct and intriguing situation. I think many were meant to make the reader feel uncomfortable…. but for me, it felt like we’d just got started and it was suddenly all over. So perhaps a great book for people who like short stories; for me, not so much.

[Nicola Peard]

This is such an interesting collection that is largely in conversation with itself. I felt very much like an outsider trying to peer in, and sometimes that feeling was just finding the text a bit inaccessible. Some of the writing didn’t come across as stylistic and more in need of a fine tune. But the content itself was fantastic, with some really stand out stories in there. Overall highly recommend if you take it slow.

[Karen Ross]

I am a huge admirer of Gunn's writing. After reading Bridget O'Connor's After the Dance I felt like these stories, though tough, challenging and exploring at times the darkness that inhabits Aotearoa. theswe sstories were a coming home.

I hadn't thought before of the voice of Aotearoa, these stories though set in a variety of locations, made me relaise we have a vloice and there was comfort in that local tenor.

[Anna Matthews]

An interesting collection of stories with themes of nostalgia, reflection, longing for what is gone and exploration of human emotions.
I enjoyed Flight Path, Blood Knowledge and Dreede the most.
I did not enjoy Praxis or Why Joan Collins is Important, or Waipara. Both were confusing and oddly written
The last story, All Gone, was disturbing but paints a sad picture of what I'm sure many people might beleive the only solution behind closed doors.

[Ellen]

Perhaps this just isn’t for me but I found the meta self awareness of a lot of the stories very off putting. The stories which didn’t reference themselves I felt much more connected to and enjoyed more but a lot of them I really just didn’t click with! If you’re a short story connoisseur who feels differently, I’d love to hear a different viewpoint.

[Lucy]

A highly disquieting collection of short stories testing the boundaries of horror/discomfort. A couple I didn't gel with but many hit me right in the gut. Well worth a dip into.

[Josie Laird]

Quite a range of stories, with different narrators and situations. I admire the way the author has slowed the action, to allow more impact.

[Sarah]

I just couldn't get into these short stories. I completed a few, and skipped more.

[Anuja]

[3.5]

[Anna Loi]

i cannot remember any of these short stories which i have just read and only this says a lot

[Nicola (Storyofmyshelf)]

Well it certainly lived up to its name