Product Description

This work presents a collection of stories in which the characters are ultimately preoccupied with the important things in life - sex and food, love and football. The stories are also an acute look at what it is to be young, male and English.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #751986 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From the Publisher
A stunning collection of stories by a new writer to watch.

About the Author
Jeremy Sheldon was born in 1971 in London where he still lives, working as a script-reader and a DJ. He studied at the University of East Anglia where he was awarded an MA in creative writing.

Customer Reviews

A Little Lost in the Supermarket
Sheldon's debut collection of nine short stories is, as so many collections are, a mixed bag with a few very nice moments and a few forgettable ones. The running theme is an Englishman in his mid to late 20s (rather like the author) who is in the midst of, or trying to recover from, some kind of relationship pain -- generally with some kind of pop culture angle. For example, the first story, "Let's Get Outta Here" finds its narrator in California, recovering from a divorce and indulging in lots of TV-watching, leading to extended riffing on The Flinstones. It's vaguely amusing, but in the post-Hornby age, we've seen tons of similar stuff. The protagonist of "Ink" is Jack, a writer stuck in a creative block who is meeting his girlfriend in Amsterdam. En route he gets distracted by the "cafes," falls in with an interesting girl who convinces him to get a tattoo, and by the next day is busy questioning his relationship. Again, a decent enough riff on the "one crazy night" scenario, but nothing special. "White Wedding" takes place at a wedding party in Vegas where the bride has skipped out, and flashes back to tell the story of their meeting as finalists in the Tekken World Championships six months previously. Those who actually play Tekken (unlike me), may find the love story of two gamer nerds way more affecting and heartbreaking, but it seemed kind of gimmicky to me. Probably the best story, and certainly the most memorable, is the title one, about another young Londoner and his waning relationship. It's plot revolves around a group of friends who engage in a hilarious larcenous tournament that combines shoplifting with endurance eating. It's probably the best of Sheldon's attempts to replicate the ineffectual emotional side of men.

Three stories make tentative forays into science fiction. "Higher Society" appears to be a straightforward story of a teenage boy about to be taken on his first hunt -- until a twist takes it into an entirely darker realm. "The Project" marries a futuristic setting, with overpopulation and a project to send clones through space, but ultimately comes back to the same jilted man scenario as most of the other stories. "The Trail" is a very simple story about a painter who sees a captivating woman and finds himself following her only to wind up in a very Gogolesque situation -- good stuff. Two of the stories are pretty disposable. "Off the Wrist" is about a nerdy university student living in a group house and his attempts to "relax" before a big date (if you've seen Something About Mary, you can guess the rest). It's pretty low grade humor on the whole, stamped with a happy ending. "Endgame" is a pretty sappy story about a English-born South Asian cab driver driving around on the night of the (in)famous 1996 UEFA semifinal between England and Germany listening to the game. On the whole, a pretty uneven collection with a few highlights, but Sheldon needs to leave some of the lad-lit elements behind and grow up a little.

a really interesting new talent.
These stories are brilliant. I read them almost in one sitting. A story called HIGHER SOCIETY is a satire on the upper classes, a story called LET'S GET OUTTA HERE is about a divorced man's obsession with The Flintstone's - a distraction from the pain of his loss. The title story is about a gang of mates who have a competition to see who can eat the most while supermarket-shopping. Behind the main activity/obsession in each story - playing Tekken, having a tattoo, eating in supermarkets, hunting - lies a central character who is displacing the pain of what is really going on in their life. Very satisfying, enjoyable and relevant.

A Mixed Bag of Brilliance
The blurb on the cover compares Jeremy Sheldon to Douglas Coupland. My friend who lent me his copy of "The Comfort Zone", raving on to me "that I HAD to read it", compared him to George Suanders.

All I can say is that Sheldon is as good as both of these writers, but has an original take on life and people that is all his own.

What I especially liked about these stories was how substanial they were. Each one was like a mini-novel in its own right, with its own style and preoccupations and tone. Some are funny, some are tragic. But they are all brilliant. I can't wait for his novel...