Ideas Above Our Station

by Ian Daley (editor)

Someone is waiting for a train, or it could be a bus or an airplane. They are alone. For company, in their coat pocket they are carrying a book of stories. They sit down and take out the book. It falls open on the first page of a new story. What would be the perfect read for them to find there? Fifteen writers have risen to the challenge to put the ideal story into their fellow traveler's hand. The results are inside this book.

Genres: Short Stories

223 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2006

Reviews

[Kitty Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of short stories, varying in content and tone. In all honesty I probably should have read this book while travelling, seeing as it is the reoccurring theme throughout (I read it in a library...had only meant to spend an hour tops but it was so easy to move from story to story that I stayed in there the rest of the day!). Some of the stories I absolutely loved and have looked for the author's other work, one or two I wasn't keen on and there was one I couldn't even finish.

One of my favourite stories told of a woman on a train on her way to give a speech about happiness and her fixation on a drunk man on his phone, it's an unusual but surprisingly effective story.

Another story that stays with me was that of an old man and his son, truly heartbreaking.

Well worth borrowing from a library for a long train journey or something, it has stories compelling enough to keep you interested but nothing too heavy or abstract.

Another note, I really can't understand why someone gave it 1 star, maybe it was an accident? There's a lot to be enjoyed in this book, something for many different tastes and each story has a unique voice of it's own. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could.

[Anni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed on www.whichbook.net