In this powerful collection, Janice Galloway takes on David Lodge's assertion that 'literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children; life's the other way round'. Her multi-layered stories not only explore sex and sexuality, but parenthood, relationships, the connections between generations, death, ambition and loss. Here are sixteen razor-sharp tales about the raw and poignant stuff of life, from one of Scotland's best loved and most acclaimed authors.
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[A child was dangling over the kerb, the back wheels of his push-chair holding his whole weight, too near the precipice JELLYFISH]***
(Granta Books, 7 February 2019, first published 22 June 2015, 222 pages, paperback, borrowed from @GlasgowLib)
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I'm a big fan of Galloway. She's Scottish, like me. Yeah! Her book The Trick Is to Keep Breathing is brilliant and devastating. I read a lot of short story collection and I can be very fussy. It's been my experience that most collections tend to be a mixed bag with good and not-so-good stories in it. jellyfish is one of the rare exceptions. I enjoyed every story. My favourite was Gold. I thought this story was simply amazing and shone a little brighter than the other stories. I also really loved the title story, Almost 1948 and Distance.