The World Cup is here; and, to celebrate the fact that this is a world event, I bring you a South African collection of short stories that are set in twenty-four cities located elsewhere on planet earth: Home Away, edited by Louis Greenberg.
With twenty-four cities and twenty-four authors, the stories are as varied as the places and people that wrote them. And with any such collection, the quality varies, but there was not one story I did not enjoy. What was truly intriguing about the collection was how the format worked. None of the stories were related, but they all fit together in this disjointed, but brilliant fashion.
My personal top three were (in order of their appearance):
- Nairobi / Midnight: "To Kill a Politician" by Zukiswa Wanner
It gave me the creeps - in a good way.
2. Amsterdam / 2am: "Stowaway" by Richard de Nooy
It is told from the point of view of a 7 piece luggage set - what's not to love?
3. Oxford / 10am: "The Tea Break" by Fiona Snyckers
Having been a temp in the UK more times than I'd like to admit, this story echoed much of my own experience, complete with one of those uniquely "only in Britain" conversations that always had me, too, going "hmmm...."
To my USA and UK friends: I am struggling to find places to buy this collection abroad. I suggest bugging the publishers, Zebra Press. It's worth it.
Nice piece, have you joined the Cape Town Book Fair facebook page yet, there is going to be some more exciting stuff on it very soon, and a chance to join in a project that should be close to a blogger's heart, Jen
PS won't you invite your facebook friends to join the group the link is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cape-Town-South-Africa/Cape-Town-Book-Fair/277677959363?v=app_2347471856&ref=ts#!/pages/Cape-Town-South-Africa/Cape-Town-Book-Fair/277677959363?ref=ts&ajaxpipe=1&__a=26
Posted by: Jennifer Crocker | 15 June 2010 at 12:08 PM