The Dream Lover: Short Stories

by William Boyd

Funny, moving and sharply observed, these stories are confirmation of Boyd's status as one of English fiction's finest writers. Here are twenty-four gripping tales told in bold, distinct voices from Brazil to Africa and from Nice to Hollywood. This eclectic collection by the acclaimed author of Restless and Brazzaville Beach is a must-read for any lover of the short story.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Note: William^^Boyd

Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.

At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland and then Nice University (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow University (MA Hons in English and Philosophy), where he edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He then moved to Jesus College, Oxford in 1975 and completed a PhD thesis on Shelley. For a brief period he worked at the New Statesman magazine as a TV critic, then he returned to Oxford as an English lecturer teaching the contemporary novel at St Hilda's College (1980-83). It was while he was here that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published.

Boyd spent eight years in academia, during which time his first film, Good and Bad at Games, was made. When he was offered a college lecturership, which would mean spending more time teaching, he was forced to choose between teaching and writing.

Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the same year, and is also an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling and Glasgow. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005.

Boyd has been with his wife Susan since they met as students at Glasgow University and all his books are dedicated to her. His wife is editor-at-large of Harper's Bazaar magazine, and they currently spend about thirty to forty days a year in the US. He and his wife have a house in Chelsea, West London but spend most of the year at their chateau in Bergerac in south west France, where Boyd produces award-winning wines.

Reviews

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of short stories from throughout the authors career, with an overall theme of relationships, love, romance and sex. Each a little snippet that you can easily imagine extending into one of Boyd's novels, though not quite as satisfying as his best longer works. Plenty to enjoy though.

[Bryan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories vary so much in style that you should find plenty to enjoy along with some that leave you perplexed. Boyd is one of the finest contemporary writers in English, but he has a curious disdain for the Portuguese language. This despite the fact that he is clearly fascinated by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, especially his assumption of different literary identities. In one story, for instance, the protagonist has the hots for an Italian waitress in England whom he believes to be Portuguese even though she has a Spanish name. The same sad fellow has a daydream life in which he imagines himself as a series of well-endowed Brazilians whose first name is the Portuguese for grammar school. That could be glossed as showing how far from the real world the character is, but when Boyd throws in snippets of Portuguese, he often neglects written accents or gets them wrong: that is simply lazy writing. Nevertheless, there is a great deal to admire in this collection, especially the stories set in Africa.

[Fahad · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book from William Boyd's works! I must say i was rather surprised by his intricately crafted short stories and albeit some of them were a bit dull the whole collection was really and interesting read.

[Jill Andrews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I've really enjoyed Boyd's novels in the past but here, without the clever plotlines, the stories seem directionless, the description incessant, peopled by largely unlikeable characters and revelling in sordid, jealous, callous game playing.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this book!

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than 20 short stories - excellent

[Huw Rhys · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is no doubt that William Boyd is an outstanding novelist, and he applies some of that excellence to some of the stories in this collection.

However, there are about a dozen stories, all grouped together in the middle of this book, interestingly enough, which really do him no credit at all. They seem extremely experimental at best, poorly conceived and executed if we are to be more prosaic about it.

Some of the best stories involved characters who go into to star in some of his better loved novels - Logan Mountstuart and Morgan Leafy in particular.

There is enough of substance in this collection to just about merit ploughing through it - or better still, to make it a much more satisfying read, skip all the stories in the middle!

[Mark Speed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection of shorts by Boyd. These are all from early in his career, so they're pretty good. A nice range of writing. Killing Lizards shows just what a great writer he was at a young age.

[Alyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I love his novels but hated the short stories. I can appreciate the style of writing (characters and setting) but felt the plot was wholly lacking in most of these. Back to the novels!

[Nicholas Rathbone · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only weak William Boyd I have read

[Tim Leggatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writer but short stories a bit samey in terms of characters, maybe should be called the sex lovers instead!

[Shaughan Parish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never been a fan of short stories, but, liking William Boyd as a novelist, I thought I'd give these a whirl. I'm still not a fan of short stories.

[Mark Frangia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magical collection of quite diverse short stories that take the reader around the world and through various periods of time. It is rather amazing the breadth of imagination and historical depth the author possesses allowing him to create these tales. Though almost flawless in its printed form, the editor missed a couple of fact checks which should have been apparent in the final gallows. Barring this minor oversight I thoroughly enjoyed this diversion, extending my appetite as it were to read more of William Boyd's work.

Mark di Frangia, author

[Artie LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more on the second reading than on the first (when I gave up after three stories). Boyd is excellent at conjuring a sense of place, but I didn't find any of his people likeable, which limits reader involvement a bit. Somehow their predicaments were not very interesting.

A lot of Zola's characters are not likeable: but the plot and the writing draws the reader in. Not so here. I shan't read it again.

[Wild Horses · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally really love William Boyd’s writing (apart from when he writes to the papers 🙄) but am very glad now that I came to his novels first as these short stories were mostly just not for me. It’s a genre (if that’s the word) I do like and I did enjoy a few of them but the relentless sexual obsessing of young (& not so young men) was just too tediously weird. Beautifully written but kind of sleazy. Why did I finish them? Because it was an audiobook and Peter Noble’s reading was divinely gorgeous.
Back to the novels. (And the campaigning!)

[Jennifer Lawler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born in Ghana, raised in Nigeria, educated in both the UK and France, William Boyd seems at home against many backdrops. Noagainstmanybackdrops. No surprise, then, that this collection of 24 short stories, moves from Africa to South America and France to Hollywood. While the setting varies, Boyd's skill as a storyteller remains constant throughout.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

c2008 (3) FWFTB: twenty-four, Brazil, Africa, Nice, Hollywood. For me, this collection was less 'moving' and 'sharply observed' and more cruel and dull. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to read this collection but unable to recommend to the normal crew at this time.

[Malene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hedonistic, atmospheric and full of interesting stories and characters in a collection of love/lust stories from across the world, each worthy of a book in itself. Not sure I gave the book its due attention as an audio book-I feel too many details were missed for me.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened on audio, sympathetically read by Peter Noble.
A collection of short stories to do with love, sex and relationships- from adolescent fantasy and fumblings through casual encounters, exploitation, betrayal and desertions.
Usual high quality of writing from Boyd. Well worth reading.

[louise reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.50 ⭐️

[Ellie Beagley · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Read first 12 short stories then gave up, just wasnt for me. Any human heart still a fave from Boyd.)

[Mike Tait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never been a lover of short stories but this genre in Boyd's hands are beautifully crafted and quite sexy reads

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love his novels, but while I can see these are technically good stories they left me a little cold.

[Andrew Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lover of short stories. Some good ones, but not enough to override the not so inspiring

[Jill Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great short story reader, these were uneven as short story collections often are.

[Geir Ertzgaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeg liker virkelig å lese William Boyd, og det er noe befriende med å lese noveller. Denne samlingen, som er en redigert nyutgivelse av to tidligere samlinger, On the Yankee Station, og "The Destiny of Nathalie "X" (et par nye noveller) er alt det jeg liker ved Boyd, og noe av det som frusterer. De beste bøkene hans er blant mine absolutte favoritter: The New Confessoins og Any Human Heart er bare nydelig. Derimot slipper han av og til ut romaner som jeg rett og slett bare ikke forstår, som Armadillo, Stars and Bars og til dels Brazzaville Beach. I de siste bøkene velger han en litterær stil som blir veldig hakkete, og jeg klarer rett og slett ikke henge med fordi teksten og hodet mitt springer rundt som i en bydel jeg har mistet totalt retningssansen i. Heldigivs er disse unntakene, også i denne samlingen. En annen sak, er at han er preget av sin bakgrunn. Ikke alle vil like kostskoledimensjonen, synet på sex og kvinner, men på noen måter fungerer det, fordi hovedtemaet er menneskenes vilkår uansett hvem vi er: Vi prøver, vi feiler, reiser oss og prøver igjen - og tråkker over så det holder.
Anbefales.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well as a big fan of William Boyd, if I'm honest, I was hoping for better. He is such a good writer, but these stories were a little bit oversexed and underplotted.

[Chani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stories are very good, others less impressive. It's about people hanging on a dream but, above all, about relationships; a trio often appears then breaks up; it's about youth and brief meetings or matings. Bizarre relationships sometimes stand out– like the one between the girl who likes to read men's books and the bat that likes licking her fingers while they perform together in a cage. A few stories take place in France, most of the time in the South: Nice où les Anglais aiment à se promener, la Côte d'Azur, les Alpes Maritimes. I used to live there, so reading this felt like borrowing pieces of my childhood from William Boyd through the eyes of English characters who are older than I was at the time. Is there such thing as exotic nostalgia by proxy?

[Alice Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-crafted short stories. This is what short stories should be like - a snap shot. Was pleased that he varied the "voice" and style so much. Because of that, there are some stories I truly enjoyed and others I enjoyed for how they were written, but did not rate the narrative; there were others that I just did not "get". Hence, the 3 star rating - but I do not doubt that William Boyd is a 4 or 5 star writer. Am now likely to try one of his novels in the hopes that it may be in the style of one of the short stories I rated highly.

[Alesa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been a big fan of Boyd over the years, and even read Brazzaville Beach twice. I've loved the way he describes the expat experience. But these stories read like he'd cleaned out a drawer of old stuff just to have something published. I was heartily disappointed, and didn't get past the first three or four.