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People for Lunch and Spoilt
Two short-story collections. People for Lunch reached no.7 in the Sunday Times Bbst seller list.
Georgina Hammicks work has been selected for Best short Stories in 1987, 1988 and 1991.
Several have been broadcast on Radio 3 and Radio 4
Georgina Hammicks work has been selected for Best short Stories in 1987, 1988 and 1991.
Several have been broadcast on Radio 3 and Radio 4
408 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 6, 2025
"Mad About the Boy": 5 stars
- don't care for the sly insertion of "wished she were dead" at the very end, which spoils the understated implications of the unrequited fandom on display here, but otherwise a strange, sad, smart take on the intersection of the big and small. STORY: young girl obsessed with Noel Coward through all middle and high school, misses chance at very end to see him in his twilight years, although hers have just begun, and disappointingly so.
"People for Lunch": 4 stars
- nothing revelatory but an earnest and honest look into the revelations of grief and family. many have done it. this does it pretty well.
"Tulip Plate" - 8
- A bit of authorial misunderstanding here, imagining the showstopper to be the coincidental, vaguely momentous encounter at the end between Meg and the man (in which, at a loss for words, she simply tosses out a random name, to which he responds tearfully about his dying relation), when it was actually the building interpersonal tension between the two women, once vaguely friends and now budding strangers, cleaved apart by their mutual indifference.
"A Few Problems in the Day Case Unit" - 7
- Feels much more like a story Hammick felt she had to write, rather than one she felt people had to read. There’s power in that, and certainly for women who had felt similarly neglected or dismissed or untended to by their male gynecologist. She writes the tale in the close POV of the subject, drawing out all the confusion and anxious middle spots between fine but uncomfortable exam and line crossing objectification and callousness. All the same, recognition does not a reading audience make. STORY: woman has bad experience seeing “star” male gynecologist for both checkup and IUD placement.
- don't care for the sly insertion of "wished she were dead" at the very end, which spoils the understated implications of the unrequited fandom on display here, but otherwise a strange, sad, smart take on the intersection of the big and small. STORY: young girl obsessed with Noel Coward through all middle and high school, misses chance at very end to see him in his twilight years, although hers have just begun, and disappointingly so.
"People for Lunch": 4 stars
- nothing revelatory but an earnest and honest look into the revelations of grief and family. many have done it. this does it pretty well.
"Tulip Plate" - 8
- A bit of authorial misunderstanding here, imagining the showstopper to be the coincidental, vaguely momentous encounter at the end between Meg and the man (in which, at a loss for words, she simply tosses out a random name, to which he responds tearfully about his dying relation), when it was actually the building interpersonal tension between the two women, once vaguely friends and now budding strangers, cleaved apart by their mutual indifference.
"A Few Problems in the Day Case Unit" - 7
- Feels much more like a story Hammick felt she had to write, rather than one she felt people had to read. There’s power in that, and certainly for women who had felt similarly neglected or dismissed or untended to by their male gynecologist. She writes the tale in the close POV of the subject, drawing out all the confusion and anxious middle spots between fine but uncomfortable exam and line crossing objectification and callousness. All the same, recognition does not a reading audience make. STORY: woman has bad experience seeing “star” male gynecologist for both checkup and IUD placement.
June 2, 2012
Excellent writing. Good, strong story telling, modern, relevant and engaging, if a little pessimistic....highly recommended, even to those who don't normally read short stories. Loved " a few problems in the day case unit" . So well observed and brilliantly recounted.
January 24, 2024
These stories are finely crafted and evocative. They tend to deal with a range of life's more difficult interpersonal exchanges -whether with a squabbling, chaotic family or an arrogant, dehumanising doctor - a general failure to connect is a common theme, presented with wince-making honesty we can all recognise. For this reason, of course, it doesn't make for easy reading, prospective readers be prepared!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews