Relief

by Peter Ho Davies

Genres: Short Stories

Unknown Binding

About the author

Peter Ho Davies is a contemporary British writer of Welsh and Chinese descent. He was born and raised in Coventry. Davies studied physics at Manchester University then English at Cambridge University.

In 1992 he moved to the United States as a professor of creative writing. He has taught at the University of Oregon and Emory University and is now on the faculty of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

He has published two collections of short fiction, The Ugliest House in the World (1998) and Equal Love (2000). His first novel, The Welsh Girl came out in 2007.

Davies is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

Reviews

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relief is one of the best short stories I have ever read. It all begins with a fart. An officer newly appointed to an outpost in Africa during the Zulu wars commits a faux pas at dinner. This humorous event is juxtaposed with a recent slaughter of British troops by Africans. We have all known the embarrassment of such an event, but to have the heroes describe the pain and loss of the battle followed by a another funny story about flatulence made the humor funnier and the despair greater. I must read more by this author. Kristi & Abby Tabby