Customer Reviews

Speaking with the Angel

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Here's a short story collection that gives you a fantastic collection of contemporary authors (and one actor/author) who donated their stories for a very worthy cause--a school for autistic children. I bought it because I'm a Nick Hornby fan (and also a Helen Fielding, Colin Firth, and Dave Eggers fan)--but now I've been introduced to more writers to explore and enjoy. Hornby gives a nice intro about his personal and poignant connection with the cause.

These stories run the gamut and are really fun--coming of age tales, unusual narrators (like dogs, humiliated prime ministers, and death-row cooks), and stories that ask the big question: "What is art?" They're fresh, provocative, and often humorous.

Do yourself and a good cause a favor and get this book. It's at the top of my list for gift-giving this year.

The first thing you should do when you pick up this collection of short stories is to read Nick Hornby's touching introduction. A portion of the proceeds for this book goes to support schools for autistic children, and in his introduction Hornby reveals that his own son is autistic. He goes on to describe what life is like living with an autistic child, and why quality schools are so essential. If you have a heart, you'll already be half-way to the register before you've even checked the list of authors, but you won't be disappointed.

Hornby has assembled an all-star team of emerging young writers, most of whom hail from the UK. Actor Colin Firth pens a sort of twisted fairy tale in "The Department of Nothing." Giles Smith gives a portrait of a cook for deathrow inmates. Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones) checks in with an expectedly sarcastic mother/daughter relationship study. American Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) writes from a dog's point of view in "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Was Drowned." Melissa Bank's romantic tale, "The Wonder Spot," was one of my favorites, and Irvine Welsh's unsettling commentary on homophobia, "Catholic Guilt," was also interesting. Hornby himself examines the different effects a work of art can have on people in "Nipple Jesus." Other contributing authors are Robert Harris, Patrick Marber, Zadie Smith, Roddy Doyle, and John O'Farrell. This is quite a collection.

As a female sports author and a music lover, I have found Mr. Hornby's previous books enjoyable, engaging, and at times, from a Red Sox fan and a woman's perspective, infuriating. (Please, no Arsenal fan has ever undergone the misery of a Boston Red Sox fan. Eighteen years between championships? Try 83. ) However, after I read the deeply moving introduction to this book, I found it hard to recognize the self absorbed, obsessive compulsive fan from his memoir Fever Pitch. As the godmother to an autistic child, I could relate to Mr. Hornby's respect for his child's mysterious, inner world and his joy over his child's ability, against the odds, to form a friendship with another human being. I have recommended this book simply for the introduction to friends to whom I have tried to explain the complexities of my goddaughter's autism. This introduction succeeds where my words have failed. The book is obviously far more than its introduction. The criteria for author selection appears to be whoever was cool in the late 90's or early 00's: Dave Eggers, Melissa Bank, Helen Fielding, Colin Firth. The collection's "gimmick" is that all stories are told from the first person. Some authors succeed better than others. I enjoyed Melissa Banks short story far more than her book; Helen Fielding's far less than her Bridget Jones's series. I found Mr. Hornby's story quite refreshing from his other published work (which I like)--he used a very different voice. Finally, Colin Firth's story was whimsical and wonderful. Like his performance in so many films (A month in the Country was my favorite), it begins in a low key, quiet manner yet it hits you hard at the end.

There are a few good bits in this collection of stories by today's best-known young (mostly British) authors. Nick Hornby's "NippleJesus" is my favorite thing he has ever written, and Hornby is one of my favorite authors. Also good is a story by Colin Firth, an actor who really should write more often. The best story in the set is narrated by a cook in a prison's kitchen, who has the chore of preparing last meals for the condemned. But many of the rest are poor. The wonderful and brilliant Dave Eggers submits a gimmicky story narrated by a dog. It seems like he had the clever idea of such a story, but couldn't make it do anything but roll over and play dead. And Helen Fielding, who I'd never read before and don't plan to ever read again, submits a piece that proves why so many of my acquaintances find her irritating.

This quick-reading collection of twelve original (ie. unpublished elsewhere) short stories was compiled by editor Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy, Fever Pitch) as a benefit book (proceeds going to schools specializing in the needs of autistic children), but don't let that stop you from enjoying it. It's an excellent introduction to a number of the more popular younger writers coming out of the UK and a few from the US.

Not surprisingly, my favorite stories were those by authors I already knew and liked, and were very representative of their styles. Editor Hornby's story of a bouncer turned museum guard dealing with a provocative piece of art pokes a stick in the eye of pretentious Saatchi collection art types. Irvine Welsh's "Catholic Guilt" starts as a very basic "two mates and a bar" story, with his usual command of dialogue, only to veer into something totally unexpected. Roddy Doyle's "The Slave," is an understated tale of a man who has a minor mid-life crisis sparked by discovery of a dead rat in his kitchen, and it fits in with all his Barrytown novels. Playwright Patrick Marber's "Peter Shelly" is a great little story about teenage love, and I hope to see some more fiction by him soon. Robert Harris's "PMQ" is a very droll statement before Parliament by a Prime Minister trying to account for one bizarre night. I'd only read his thriller "Archangel," which this is completely different from.

I wasn't as taken with the rest of the stories, particularly actor Colin Firth's story "The Department of Nothing" or the Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones's Diary) and Melissa Bank (The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing) pieces. But then again, I suspect that women may find more to connect with in the latter two than I did. All the stories are written from first-person perspective, and none is excessively long, so you're not making a huge investment. If you like the authors, you won't be disappointed, and if you haven't read any of them, this is a great sampler.

I think Nick Hornby is the coolest writer in the World today. This compilation was a way for me to find out other writers who are as cool as Nick. I wasn't disappointed. Here is my review of the short stories:

PMQ: Wonderful comedy piece about a Prime Minister's wild night out.

The Wonder Spot: Kind of too "New York Hipster" for me, but still a nice read.

Last Request: Great story. Mix of a serious topic with a light point of view.

Peter Shelley: Funny story about a boy losing his virginity. My favorite story in the book.

The Department of Nothing: Not bad, but a bit too sentimental for the tone of the book. This was my least favorite story. I wouldn't say Colin Firth should keep his day job, but hey, his day job is awesome.

I'm the Only One: Very short and a bit unsatisfying story about a kid's getting a visit from a super-tall friend. I still liked it.

NippleJesus: My second favorite story. A blue-collar man (a bodyguard) who admires an artsy-fartsy museum piece. Really funny.

After I was Thrown in The River...: I particularly didn't care much for this dog. My second least favorite.

LuckyBitch and The Slave: Both are about middle aged people. One seen from a woman's point of view and other from a man's. Both are equally a riot.

Catholic Guilt: My third favorite story, and being from Irvine Welsh, is also the edgiest. A homophobic hooligan gets his afterlife punishment. Simply hilarious.

Walking into the Wind: Just when I thought I couldn't laugh any harder comes this story about a mime to finish it off.

I picked up this book because I had read and liked Helen Fielding and Melissa Banks' novels. After reading these stories I think I've added some more books to my reading list. I think my favorite story was the one by Nick Hornby, although there were a few others that made me laugh out loud.

While not every story in this collection was spectacular (hence 4 stars), the majority were. And all are told in the first person, so if you aren't into that you may not like the book.

Definitely worth reading.

"Speaking with the Angel" is a short-story collection of the type one usually must wait for a stuffy academic publisher to produce. Some of the brightest names in contemporary Britlit (and a few from this side of the pond) are included, with editor Nick Hornby furnishing, not only a fine story, but also the book's foreward. (Never, by the way, has a list of Acknowledgments, which drops the names of Emma Thompson and H. K. Rowling, among others, had a finer pedigree than the one that proceeds Hornby's introduction.) It turns out the book was published in a good cause, that of autism, so you can feel good about yourself at the same time you enjoy the assortment of stories in this volume. And they are, for the most part, marvelous. Each reader will have his own favorites, but mine include Hornby's defense of modern art in "Nipple Jesus," Irvine Welsh's homophobe's version of hell in "Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It)," and, perhaps best of all, American Dave Egger's dog's eye view of life in "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned." As someone else has already noted, the stories are mostly short, and, as I can personally attest, they make for great reading on a plane. Nothing highbrow or overly angst-ridden here--despite the title--just good fun.

Speaking with the Angel is an excellent collection of very humorous short stories. It is the humor that makes it hang together, which is great considering it's a collection of stories from 12 different authors. I enjoyed each one of them thoroughly; there isn't a weak story in the bunch. Most of these authors have achieved terrific success already (Helen Fielding, Zadie Smith, Dave Eggers, to name a few), but some are a little more obscure, but nonetheless, equally talented. Enjoy this collection. It will make you smile, it will make you chuckle, and it's for a good cause.

Nick Hornby has brought together a stunning group of voices in this collection of short stories. The genesis of the book came in Hornby's desire to raise money for TreeHouse School, a private school in London for children with autism, a school which Hornby's son attends. The US edition raises money for both TreeHouse School and a similar institute in New York.

Whatever the inspiration, the result has been a gathering of Hornby's friends and relations, each providing a story for this volume. The range of subject matter and style is vast, from Helen Fielding's "Luckybitch" with its interior monologue of an old woman who has fallen and can't get up to Colin Firth's "Department of Nothing" with a fantasy story within a story to Dave Eggers's interior monologue of a dog in "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned." Hornby's own story, "NippleJesus," and John O'Farrell's "Walking into the Wind" explore the idea of art and artist, constructing and deconstructing both visual and performance art.

Most of the authors here have numerous publication credits, so if you would like a sampling of some voices you might not be familiar with, this collection will lead you on to some new favorites whose books you'll want to dive into. I have already worked my way through Nick Hornby's three books, and I've just purchased something by Irvine Welsh and John O'Farrell. Please give SPEAKING WITH THE ANGEL a try; you'll find it well worth your effort.