Stories
Between the Conceits
The story's narrator describes how he and seven other individuals manipulate the population of London. He describes the politics that go on between the manipulaters (Lady Bob, Lechmere, Dooley, the Bollam Sisters The Recorder, Colin Purves) and their charge's orchestrated interactions.
The Indian Mutiny
A group of students one day rebel against their schoolmaster, Mr Vello. This story was commissioned by Tony Peake for the Constable anthology "Winter's Tales."
A Short History of the English Novel
Two friends, Gerard and Geraldine, wander across London taking in lunch and coffee and discuss English literature. They discover an alarming amount of authors. This story was commissioned by Maria Lexton for the "Time Out Book of London Short Stories" and was also subsequently published in Time Out.
Incubus
A young research assistant comes to stay with a professor and his family. housed in curious quarters she begins to have strange feelings. This story was commissioned by Tony Peake for a "Seduction" anthology for Serpent's Tail.
Scale
A man living alone describes his growing addiction to morphine. An Abridged version of this story appeared in Granta, although was originally commissioned by Martin Jaques. The author can be heard narrating passages of this story on the track "5ml Barrel" by Bomb the Bass.
Chest
A short hop into the future and the air has become so polluted that it is toxic to breathe. Nebulisers, inhalers and even linctus have become the most desirable and useful items to own.
Grey Area
An office worker, working in The Department, starts to notice that things are not quite as they should be. Or more accurately are exactly and repetitively as they seem. The story ends with an episode of Newsnight and a discussion between Peter Snow, Zack Busner and Professor Stein.
Inclusion
A story told in epistolary fashion. The three documents involved are an information pack for the drug Inclusion, the diary entries of Simon Dykes and the diary entries of Zack Busner.
The End of the Relationship
A woman leaves her boyfriend and spends the rest of the day bouncing from person to person, meeting rejection at every corner.
Read more about this topic: Grey Area (book)
Famous quotes containing the word stories:
“Every one of my friends had a bad day somewhere in her history she wished she could forget but couldn’t. A very bad mother day changes you forever. Those were the hardest stories to tell. . . . “I could still see the red imprint of his little bum when I changed his diaper that night. I stared at my hand, as if they were alien parts of myself . . . as if they had betrayed me. From that day on, I never hit him again.””
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“I am surprised at the way people seem to perceive me, and sometimes I read stories and hear things about me and I go “ugh.” I wouldn’t like her either. It’s so unlike what I think I am or what my friends think I am.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947)
“Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand—a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods—or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)