Grey Area
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A conspiracy theory is revealed where the entire population of London are really pawns in an intricate game between godlike players; The Indian Mutiny is re-enacted in a classroom triggering the mental breakdown of a teacher; everyone in London is a frustrated would-be novelist; a philosopher explores the nature of sexual freedom; a man loses his sense of scale as he becomes hopelessly entwined with the concept of the motorway; in a dystopian near-future England the fog-bound poor cough themselves to death while the rich look on; time is frozen in the mundane repetition of office life for a secretary; a new bee-mite derived anti-depressant drug trial goes horribly wrong; and the culture of expressing emotional problems leads to the mass break-up of relationships.
As with the vast majority of anthologies, this batch of nine short stories from Will Self is slightly variable in quality, but all the tales are peppered with the authors startling and often hilarious use of language, and when the concepts match the prose the results are startling. A couple of pieces (including oddly enough the title story) are a little too aimless for my tastes, but the dizzying trilogy of 'Scale', 'Chest' and 'Inclusion' are stunning enough to warrant the price alone.
A little bitty, but more often brilliant than not.
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Delightful.
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This is the perfect book to dip into just before bedtime. A collection of about 10 stories, each putting a unique twist on modern life. Grey Area, a chilling expose of the office grind, and Inclusion®, all about a mysterious drug trial, are my favourites- both willfully subversive and un-put-downable. Altogether a very different and intriguing collection of stories that will keep you hooked the very end!
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Brilliant
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This collection of short stories was so brilliant, it took my breath away. I agree with the last reviewer that Self's stories are better than his novels. And I think of all his short story collections, this is the best. It is dazzling but also Self at his most accessible and readable. It's quite difficult to describe the stories. They are so original and unusual and inventive, you wonder where the hell Self got his inspiration (or perhaps that is a naive question!). You must buy this book now, it's brilliant!
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one of my favourite books...
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wow - i love this book - i always feel that Self is at his best in the short story genre (his novels tend to be overlong and waffly) - put simply, if you are thinking about buying any Will Self book, this is THE ONE - absolutely masterful.
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