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City-Lit
Berlin
Experience the haunting and exciting city of Berlin as never before, in the company of its most fascinating writers. Join them as
Christopher Isherwood takes us to the cabaret
David Bowie cycles through Berlin
Anna Funder remembers Stasiland
Ian McEwan overhears talk in a Berlin bar
Christabel Beilenberg wouldn't live anywhere else
David Hare contemplates a wartime memorial
Marlene Dietrich receives a graveside hommage
Chloe Aridjis shows us around town
John Simpson sees the Wall come down
... and much, much more.
Introduced by Rory Maclean
Other titles in the series: Paris, London, Dublin, Venice, New York, Amsterdam, Istanbul, St Petersburg
Christopher Isherwood takes us to the cabaret
David Bowie cycles through Berlin
Anna Funder remembers Stasiland
Ian McEwan overhears talk in a Berlin bar
Christabel Beilenberg wouldn't live anywhere else
David Hare contemplates a wartime memorial
Marlene Dietrich receives a graveside hommage
Chloe Aridjis shows us around town
John Simpson sees the Wall come down
... and much, much more.
Introduced by Rory Maclean
Other titles in the series: Paris, London, Dublin, Venice, New York, Amsterdam, Istanbul, St Petersburg
200 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Heather Reyes
23 books17 followersHello. I'm Heather Reyes - writer, editor, publisher,' Londoner'.
I'm co-founder of Oxygen Books and have edited all nine of the volumes in our city-pick series of travel anthologies.
Before setting up Oxygen Books in 2008, I had published a range of things - children's stories, poetry, short stories, articles, and a novel (Zade, Saqi Books 2004). Now that Oxygen Books is ticking over, I'm getting back to some of my own writing again. My novel Miranda Road and two non-fiction books, An Everywhere: a little book about reading and Bookworms, Dog-Ears & Squashy Big Armchairs: A Book Lover's Alphabet, published in 2014, was Reader's Digest Christmas Book of the Month which was very exciting!
This summer my 'fiftysomething' novel Perfectly Fine is out (I guess it must be a beach read as the cover has some rather lovely coloured pebbles on sand - actually made on Aldeburgh beach by my granddaughter Abigail Reyes.)
Talking it over with Genghis Khan, my rather quirky first short story collection, is out this autumn. I think readers will either love or hate it - I hope it's the former! Do let me know either way.
I hope this website gives you the information you need - I guess it depends on why you've looked me up! - but if not, please feel free to contact me at heather@oxygenbooks.co.uk
ABOUT ME ...
Born on the outskirts of London, I've always lived, studied and worked either within or less than half an hour from the capital. I was a non-Catholic 'scholarship girl' at the Ursuline High School, Brentwood, then graduated from Queen Mary College, University of London, in English. I went on to King's College for a post-graduate teaching year, but didn't take up a teaching post until much later. I worked as a freelance writer for a while - stories, articles and children's books - until starting a family. Although a card-carrying feminist, I loved - and still love - being a mother, and elected to stay home and look after my two amazing children until they started school, when I took up a teaching post at my old secondary school.
I had a number of short stories published and was working on longer things, too - 'learning the craft' - and at some point I went back to uni (part-time) and took an MA in modern literature, then a Ph.D (on the work of contemporary novelist Christine Brooke-Rose) - both at Birkbeck College, University of London (a marvellous place!).
After a number of 'near misses' with getting a full-length work published, my novel Zade (set in Paris) was accepted for publication by Saqi Books, and came out in 2004. It made a long-list of twelve books for the Prince Maurice Prize (for writing about love). I was over-awed to find that Zadie Smith (whom I really admire) was also on the long-list (though even she didn't make it to the final three!).
Soon after this I took an editing qualification, left teaching, and worked as a freelance editor for a while - though continuing to work on my own writing when I could.
It was during a trip to Athens in early 2008 that my husband, Malcolm Burgess, had the idea for our urban anthologies and we set up Oxygen Books. For some time we'd liked the idea of setting up our own small publishing house, but it needed that 'concrete idea' - about what we should publish that no-one else seemed to be doing - in order to justify such an all-consuming venture.
Nine anthologies (paris, London, Berlin, Venice, Dublin, Amsterdam, New York, St Petersburg and Istanbul) and lots of good reviews later, we feel we have achieved something worthwhile. We're now both finding a bit more time for our own writing again, while continuing our publishing venture.
I'm currently putting together a collection of my short stories (a number of these have already been published in the UK and USA) and making a tentative selection. It will be called Talking to Genghis Khan. Do let me know what you think of the title!
I'm co-founder of Oxygen Books and have edited all nine of the volumes in our city-pick series of travel anthologies.
Before setting up Oxygen Books in 2008, I had published a range of things - children's stories, poetry, short stories, articles, and a novel (Zade, Saqi Books 2004). Now that Oxygen Books is ticking over, I'm getting back to some of my own writing again. My novel Miranda Road and two non-fiction books, An Everywhere: a little book about reading and Bookworms, Dog-Ears & Squashy Big Armchairs: A Book Lover's Alphabet, published in 2014, was Reader's Digest Christmas Book of the Month which was very exciting!
This summer my 'fiftysomething' novel Perfectly Fine is out (I guess it must be a beach read as the cover has some rather lovely coloured pebbles on sand - actually made on Aldeburgh beach by my granddaughter Abigail Reyes.)
Talking it over with Genghis Khan, my rather quirky first short story collection, is out this autumn. I think readers will either love or hate it - I hope it's the former! Do let me know either way.
I hope this website gives you the information you need - I guess it depends on why you've looked me up! - but if not, please feel free to contact me at heather@oxygenbooks.co.uk
ABOUT ME ...
Born on the outskirts of London, I've always lived, studied and worked either within or less than half an hour from the capital. I was a non-Catholic 'scholarship girl' at the Ursuline High School, Brentwood, then graduated from Queen Mary College, University of London, in English. I went on to King's College for a post-graduate teaching year, but didn't take up a teaching post until much later. I worked as a freelance writer for a while - stories, articles and children's books - until starting a family. Although a card-carrying feminist, I loved - and still love - being a mother, and elected to stay home and look after my two amazing children until they started school, when I took up a teaching post at my old secondary school.
I had a number of short stories published and was working on longer things, too - 'learning the craft' - and at some point I went back to uni (part-time) and took an MA in modern literature, then a Ph.D (on the work of contemporary novelist Christine Brooke-Rose) - both at Birkbeck College, University of London (a marvellous place!).
After a number of 'near misses' with getting a full-length work published, my novel Zade (set in Paris) was accepted for publication by Saqi Books, and came out in 2004. It made a long-list of twelve books for the Prince Maurice Prize (for writing about love). I was over-awed to find that Zadie Smith (whom I really admire) was also on the long-list (though even she didn't make it to the final three!).
Soon after this I took an editing qualification, left teaching, and worked as a freelance editor for a while - though continuing to work on my own writing when I could.
It was during a trip to Athens in early 2008 that my husband, Malcolm Burgess, had the idea for our urban anthologies and we set up Oxygen Books. For some time we'd liked the idea of setting up our own small publishing house, but it needed that 'concrete idea' - about what we should publish that no-one else seemed to be doing - in order to justify such an all-consuming venture.
Nine anthologies (paris, London, Berlin, Venice, Dublin, Amsterdam, New York, St Petersburg and Istanbul) and lots of good reviews later, we feel we have achieved something worthwhile. We're now both finding a bit more time for our own writing again, while continuing our publishing venture.
I'm currently putting together a collection of my short stories (a number of these have already been published in the UK and USA) and making a tentative selection. It will be called Talking to Genghis Khan. Do let me know what you think of the title!
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 7, 2016
I reread this on my trip to the city, and as before thoroughly enjoyed the mix of fiction and non fiction extracts held within. Probably my favourite of the series, and one I'd recommend to anyone planning a visit to the German capital.
January 15, 2019
A brilliant collection of extracts from fictive and non-fictive texts on Berlin, which would also serve as a list of further reading. Each and every section is composed in a harmonious way. The only thing it lacks is a tiny little reminder of the publication dates of the texts.
January 7, 2018
A good idea & quite well executed - an anthology of literature about a city. Here it is arranged by theme. It is initially interesting and serves as a good parallel guidebook, however eventually I came to feel that the extracts were too small and generic ('oh how I'll miss this wonderful complex city') - I wanted a bit more bite - an entire short story or chapter perhaps rather than a scrap. The range of writers was very much limited to post WW1 and more recent. Some were from a blog. While I was getting an overview I don't think it had too much depth and my engagement flagged.
March 19, 2013
The guide caught perfectly the main feature of the city: always on the move. Even though I am not familiar with many of the books and authors included in this Berlin collection, the selection reflects the various faces of the city, its complexities, intricate history and eccentricities. The book offers a good guidance to anyone that wants more than a simple tourist experience of the city.
August 3, 2013
The snack-sized (1-2 page) novel and memoir excerpts are seemingly tailored to liven up a ride on the U-bahn. They capture many faces of life here over the last century, although the progression of themes did feel a bit circular by the end.
November 23, 2009
An interesting cross section of extracts about Berlin from Isherwood to my friend, Anna Winger. A few of the extracts are from Lilly/Glimmer, which is nice.
November 7, 2012
Excellent companion piece to traditional guides to the city. Takes extracts from the likes of Ian McEwan and Ian Walker to provide a collection of insights into both old and new Berlin.
June 27, 2018
This was a great travel companion on my trip to Berlin. Gave me greater insight into many of the places we visited. It’s made me look out new books and authors featured in it to read more.
March 13, 2015
Berlin is my favourite city that I have so far visited and to find a book that celebrated the city (both its highs and lows) was wonderful. It covers the main points in the cities history, and introduced new authors to me as well as books I already love such as The Luminous Life Of Lilly Aphrodite and Goodbye to Berlin. It has also shown me places in the city which I was unaware of and I am now desperate to go back and visit. It doesn't shy away from its history and the chapter 'The Past is Another Country' give you an insight about what it was like to be in the city during the war. My favourite chapter however is the first 'Come to thee Cabaret...' as it shows Berlins much more exuberant side. Wonderful reading either in one go or to pick up and put down in small chunks.
December 17, 2013
The amuse bouche of city literary writing - BERLIN
This is ideal for a quick dip. The work that must have gone into collating these little gems, including a great variety of authors describing a great variety of Berlin foibles, characteristics, situations and history (both good and bad); oh, and that Berlin wit is sharp, it is to the point but rarely crude. It is a delight to read the odd passage, and enjoy a brief encounter with the city. Some things described are delightful, other heart reading, and the character of the typical Berliner comes across with real clarity. The cabaret, not to be missed and other things to do as a visitor, some obvious, some less so. Take it with you when you go and you will glean a lot from this lovely book of edited highlights!
This is ideal for a quick dip. The work that must have gone into collating these little gems, including a great variety of authors describing a great variety of Berlin foibles, characteristics, situations and history (both good and bad); oh, and that Berlin wit is sharp, it is to the point but rarely crude. It is a delight to read the odd passage, and enjoy a brief encounter with the city. Some things described are delightful, other heart reading, and the character of the typical Berliner comes across with real clarity. The cabaret, not to be missed and other things to do as a visitor, some obvious, some less so. Take it with you when you go and you will glean a lot from this lovely book of edited highlights!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews