Pursuit: The Balvenie Stories Collection

by Alex Preston (Contributor), Eley Williams (Contributor), David Szalay (Contributor)

What is it to pursue a goal, to strive for an ideal, to follow a dream? These are the questions explored by The Balvenie in this unique collection compiled by award-winning novelist Alex Preston. The stories - from some of the brightest and most exciting voices writing today - tell of determination, endeavour and perseverance against the odds. They range across wildly different contexts and cultures, from the epic to the intimate, in fiction and non-fiction, illustrating and illuminating the outer limits of human character and achievement. With contributions from Max Porter, Kamila Shamsie, Daisy Johnson, Eley Williams, Michael Donkor, David Szalay, Yan Ge and many more.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

176 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

Alex Preston was born in 1979. He is an award-winning author and journalist who appears regularly on BBC television and radio. He writes for GQ, Harper's Bazaar and Town & Country Magazine as well as for the Observer's New Review. He teaches Creative Writing at the University of Kent and regular Guardian Masterclasses.

Reviews

[Haley The Caffeinated Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 Rounded up to 5.

Thank you to Canongate for sending me this in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love short story collections, especially when you've read a lot of longer novels in a row, short stories are like a breath of fresh air.

This was no exception to being a lovely change of pace.

A really great collection of introspective, thoughtful, and at times, evocative short stories.

There were stories from all sorts of walks of life, a varied range of protagonists and motivations. Each author's voice was unique and strong and I enjoyed every story except for maybe the last one, which I still found intriguing.

My favorite happened to be the first story, I loved the flower clock so much and if you get a chance to read this you'll see what I mean.

The most important part to me was thinking upon each character's motivations, their pursuits, their lack of pursuits, and how seamlessly they all appeared to flow together despite being very clearly the result of different, but all talented, writers.

I highly recommend this to any fan of short stories and to those who like a book to leave you thoughtful. 4.5 cups of coffee from me!

[Robert Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bunch as you’d expect from such a variety of writers. I especially enjoyed Daisy Johnson’s and Max Porter’s offerings. Off- beat and intriguing.
It is also very interesting to me and somewhat unconventional that this collection has come from an idea in a whisky distillery.
Very worthwhile.