Bird Eat Bird

by Katrina Best

Bird Eat Bird, Katrina Best’s first book of short stories, is a funny, smart, offbeat and insightful collection that explores themes that are equally poignant and A thirty-year-old woman who still lives at home anticipates the experience of a third date; a teenaged vegetarian supermarket cashier struggles to scan a package of offal; an inscrutable pelican in a crowded London park decides to try something different for dinner. These artful stories are tinged with social commentary and reflect their author in that they feature characters and sensibilities from both Britain and Canada.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2010

About the author

Katrina Best is a Canadian short story writer.

Originally from the UK, Katrina spent several years in Vancouver before moving to Montreal, where she now lives with her husband and their two children.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these in the span of a couple of busy days. These delicious morsels are so easy to slurp up! Katrina Best's stories straddle both sides of the pond, representing the uniquely Canadian experience of places like Montreal and young families traveling to Florida. The mention of imitation suet brought tears to my eyes, and each story had me chuckling. There's nothing blatant about her humour, rather it slips into the corners of your mouth and infects your spirit with chuckling fits. Best has made her way into my top authors in only a hundred pages.

[Gina Roitman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, heart-wrenching, astute and insightful. These are just a few of the words of praise I want to heap on Katrina Best for her beautiful book of short stories. In it, she opens the door to the thoughts, hopes, fears and angst of her fascinating characters. Actually, her characters are mostly ordinary people, the kind we all know or at least, could meet every day and otherwise forgettable but seeing the world through their eyes ensures that we will never forget them.

[Scotchneat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good little collection of short stories. The opener kind of sets the tone - a pelican in a park toying with his food with an audience alternately aghast and morbidly fascinated.

Some of the stories are monologues both dark and humorous. Diverse perspectives and locations, but everything with sardonic on the side.

[J-Elfasy (Montreal) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katrina Best’s short story collection, Bird Eat Bird, is a fun, light read from an author who has mastered the art of quirkiness, deadpan humor and quiet desperation. The book is quite simply delicious, and reveals Best’s knack for witty dialogue.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the offbeat sense of humor in these outrageous, extremely well-written edgy but poignant stories and look forward to reading her future work.

[Antony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really demotivated me as a want to be writer. I think there are much more helpful books out there.

[Angela Long (Carter) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart, witty and fast paced. I absolutely love short stories especially when they are well written. Katrina Best has a wonderful handle on language and the idiosyncrasies of people. As with most short story compilations there are some that stand out and for me the first - Lunch Hour is that one. Having the advantage of hearing Katrina read the story with all the accompanying accents may have had an influence on this decision of course, however I loved the suspended moment that it captures and the irony of the onlookers - trapped by the suspense of a completely natural - albeit unusual, occurrence. I read this in a couple of hours and it left me wanting more.

[Tricia Dower · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of unusual, memorable characters in ordinary situations. Best employs a comic touch as she plays with points of view and offers up portraits of human dynamics. “At Sea” is beautifully constructed. “Pelican” and “False Fingernail” are also strong and original.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd, yet entertaining, collection of short stories.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty, intimate and easy to read. An interesting series of stories on everyday life.

[Zoe Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5