Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172805 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Synopsis
"The Book of Other People" is just that: a book of other people. Open its covers and you'll make a whole host of new acquaintances. Nick Hornby and Posy Simmonds present the ever-diverging writing life of Jamie Johnson; Hari Kunzru twitches open his net curtains to reveal the irrepressible Magda Mandela (at 4:30 a.m., in her lime-green thong); Jonathan Safran Foer's Grandmother offers cookies to sweeten the tale of her heart scan; and Dave Eggers, George Saunders, David Mitchell, Colm Toibin, A.M. Homes, Chris Ware and many more each have someone to introduce to you, too. With an introduction by Zadie Smith and brand-new stories from over twenty of the best writers of their generation from both sides of the Atlantic, "The Book of Other People" is as dazzling and inventive as its authors, and as vivid and wide-ranging as its characters.

Customer Reviews

Failiure to launch
I was excited by this book.

The cover art, the authors I've previously enjoyed (Toby Litt, Adam Thirlwell, A.M Holmes, Nick Hornby) and illustrations by Daniel Clowes and Posy Simmonds.

According to the blurb: "The Book of Other People" is just that: a book of other people. With an introduction by Zadie Smith and brand-new stories from over twenty of the best writers of their generation from both sides of the Atlantic, "The Book of Other People" is as dazzling and inventive as its authors, and as vivid and wide-ranging as its characters."

Although the characters and situations are wide-ranging this doesn't mean they're engaging.

Short stories are often seen as the less glamorous siblings of the novel but they're often a lot harder to master, and this is evident here.

The trouble is, it left me feeling bit flat. Whist there are some ace stories in here, I get the feeling that some of these writers are so sued to having a full novel to flesh a character and their story out, that having a short story to make their mark was perhaps too much of a challenge.

David Mitchell's Judith Castle, Heidi Julavits Judge Gladys Park Schultz and Rhoda, By Jonathan Safran Foer really stood out, but the rest, whilst the actual writing is proficient, a fair few of the scenarios refused to lift off the page, with characters who weren't that interesting or believable, which was disappointing.