The Faber Book of Best New Irish Short Stories

by David Marcus

In The Joke, a middle-aged man sits listening to his wife's conversation on the phone, at once bitter and sweetly yearning; in The Cocktail Hour, a couple wander the night haunted, seemingly lost in a reverie of the jazz-age and the movies; in Matters of Life and Death, two young brothers spend the night at the house of the local doctor and his wife, and together the four of them end up in a late night dance...From Ireland itself to the United States, rural Peru to the mountains of the Himalayas, these stories collectively and individually demonstrate the complexity of emotion and memory that is associated with the very finest short stories, and bear testimony to the fact that this art form is still alive and flourishing.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

David Marcus was born in Ireland to Lithuanian Jewish parents. His dual heritage was reflected in his work, including three novels and several collections of short stories and poetry. As well as his own writing, he fostered the talent of other writers as literary editor for The Irish Press (where he ran the "New Irish Writing" page from 1968 to 1986) and as editor of 30 anthologies of Irish short stories and poetry. He was married to the author Ita Daly.