The Time Out Book of London Short Stories

by Julie Burchill (Editor), Christopher Fowler (Contributor), Neil Gaiman (Contributor)

Twenty-five diverse, distinctive short stories to celebrate twenty-five years of London's premier listings magazine.

Genres: Short Stories, London, Anthologies

272 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 1993

About the author

Julie Burchill is an English writer and columnist known for her provocative comments. Beginning as a writer for the New Musical Express at the age of 17, she has written for newspapers such as The Sunday Times and The Guardian. She is a self-declared "militant feminist". She has several times been involved in legal action resulting from her work. She is also an author and novelist, her 1989 novel Ambition being a bestseller, and her 2004 novel Sugar Rush being adapted for television.

Reviews

[Barbara Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a bit dated and not much variety in tone between the stories selected.

[Daisy H · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this book... Very dark and unenjoyable.

[David Bril · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories written by London authors. I have not read the entire book as of yet, as my main reason for getting this book was the find the nearly impossible to find Nick Hornby short called Faith. MY review is a review of that short story.

Faith is the first of many Nick Hornby short stories and it is one that may require a couple reads to really appropriate. It tells the story of a troubled young couple who, find their world interrupted by a man who is now living on their roof as a form of protest against the choices made by his favorite football team. It doesn't really have much to say about anything, its just a story about 3 people and it is funny and easy enough to read. This is worthy the price for any Hornby fan who is looking to complete their collections.

[Noam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't actually finished this book, but I think I've read enough to write a review.

I bought is just for the short story by Nick Hornby. I'm in love with his writing and this was once again a really good read. Not his best, but still well written, interesting and seeming to be much fuller than the 5 or 6 pages it fills up.

I tried to go over all the short stories and at least give them a try, but after 4 or 5 it seems obvious to me that there's not much point. That's the problem with anthology based on theme instead of being the work of one writer. I found too many uninteresting either due to subject or writing style. Or both.

The fact I'm really not a London fan must have something to do with it as well. I don't find anything charming enough about this city to make me wanna experience a collage of the different people inhabiting it.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore short stories, and I was greatly looking forward to reading this. Alas, as can happen with anthologies, this was very hit-and-miss. More hit-and-miss than others actually. The common theme of London was intriguing and it could have made for a fine collection of works. However, many of these could have been set in any city and so their London uniqueness was lost.

Several of these were so brief that you could never understand what context they were in which kind of rendered them meaningless. Some of them were a little disturbing, but I can handle that in general. Some were really enjoyable and seem to really be a part of London.These are the ones that made me give this 3 stars and not lower.

[Nicolas Chinardet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite forgettable on the whole. For some odd reason, there are several stories resetting elements of the second world war in 1990's London and there is a rambling piece of non-fiction about J Maclaren-Ross. Too many of the stories fail to provide enough context for the read to actually understand what is going on and who the characters involved are. The last few stories are much better in that respect but they probably are still not worth trudging through all those preceding them.

[Alan Mackay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patchy collection. Glad I stuck with it as I thought the last story 'The Gift' was the best. Liked the Maclaren Ross essay. Perhaps it would encourage others to take a look at his work.