Ways of Telling

by Xandra Bingley, Margaret Atwood (Foreword)

"Ways of Telling isn't like any other book. Is it social reportage, the eye at the keyhole, the war at the door? It is its own thing."—Margaret Atwood

"Fractured, haunting, intimate and totally original, Ways of Telling knocked the breath out of me. It's dangerously exact, wilfully ambitious, wild in its scope and perfect in its precision." —Olivia Laing

From the author of the UK bestseller Bertie, May & Mrs Fish comes an extraordinary new collection of unforgettable stories. As a bystander at Princess Diana's funeral, a fan at a James Brown concert, a passenger on a Welsh bus and a patient in a hectic hospital, Xandra Bingley's vivid portraits of everyday experience remind us of the fleeting and mysterious transience of life.

"A sharp, wise and knowing eye, combined with a rare delicacy of prose — this is unlike anything else you will have read. An absolute treat." — Andrew Marr

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction

152 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2026

Reviews

[Eileen McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stream of consciousness romp through a life , chaotic and non linear, which is so human and engaging.

[Bertha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it to the cigarette essay and was satisfied

[feverdreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Potent torrents of emotional baggage and twinkling observations mix in these by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming streams-of-consciousness. Flows with a special, magic-flecked shimmer for nearly its entire meandering length, until a strangely juvenile transcript of public grief soundbites overheard at Princess Diana’s funeral breaks the spell.