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The Name On the Door is Not Mine
A striking new collection of accessible yet elegant stories from literary giant and master craftsman CK Stead
Gathered from throughout Stead’s career, these stories are a reminder of his deft storytelling and literary power. They are clever, sensual, wry and beautifully written, with Stead’s subtle sense of humour evident at every turn.
The collection can be read as a meditation on the writerly life, and includes a number of new, previously unpublished stories, including ‘Last Season’s Man’, which won the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, as well as older stories that have been revised and rewritten. Set in locations as diverse as the South of France, Sydney, Zagreb, Auckland, San Francisco and Oxford, each story is vividly drawn.
This extraordinary collection, along with Stead’s appointment as New Zealand Poet Laureate, confirms his position as one of our most exceptionally talented writers.
Gathered from throughout Stead’s career, these stories are a reminder of his deft storytelling and literary power. They are clever, sensual, wry and beautifully written, with Stead’s subtle sense of humour evident at every turn.
The collection can be read as a meditation on the writerly life, and includes a number of new, previously unpublished stories, including ‘Last Season’s Man’, which won the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, as well as older stories that have been revised and rewritten. Set in locations as diverse as the South of France, Sydney, Zagreb, Auckland, San Francisco and Oxford, each story is vividly drawn.
This extraordinary collection, along with Stead’s appointment as New Zealand Poet Laureate, confirms his position as one of our most exceptionally talented writers.
- GenresShort Stories
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
C.K. Stead
68 books22 followersChristian Karlson Stead is a New Zealand writer whose works include novels, poetry, short stories, and literary criticism.
One of Karl Stead's novels, Smith's Dream, provided the basis for the film Sleeping Dogs, starring Sam Neill; this became the first New Zealand film released in the United States.
Mansfield: A Novel was a finalist for the 2005 Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize and received commendation in the 2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the South East Asia and South Pacific region.
C. K. Stead was born in Auckland. For much of his career he was Professor of English at the University of Auckland, retiring in 1986 to write full-time. He received a CBE in 1985 and was admitted into the highest honour New Zealand can bestow, the Order of New Zealand in 2007.
One of Karl Stead's novels, Smith's Dream, provided the basis for the film Sleeping Dogs, starring Sam Neill; this became the first New Zealand film released in the United States.
Mansfield: A Novel was a finalist for the 2005 Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize and received commendation in the 2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the South East Asia and South Pacific region.
C. K. Stead was born in Auckland. For much of his career he was Professor of English at the University of Auckland, retiring in 1986 to write full-time. He received a CBE in 1985 and was admitted into the highest honour New Zealand can bestow, the Order of New Zealand in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 29, 2023
Short version:
"C.K. Stead said the poet was dead,
but 50 pages later he was found safe and sound
in his bed
with a young student whose hair was red"
A slightly longer one:
I like his style for no reason I can explain. His stories are about mundane events. They are long. They are winding. But as with his other books, I read it quickly, cover to cover.
The way he writes, the mundane becomes interesting, one thing leads to the other and the endings are unpredictable.
He reminds me of Chekhov.
"C.K. Stead said the poet was dead,
but 50 pages later he was found safe and sound
in his bed
with a young student whose hair was red"
A slightly longer one:
I like his style for no reason I can explain. His stories are about mundane events. They are long. They are winding. But as with his other books, I read it quickly, cover to cover.
The way he writes, the mundane becomes interesting, one thing leads to the other and the endings are unpredictable.
He reminds me of Chekhov.
January 4, 2017
I'm truly grateful for winning this collection of short stories by C.K. Stead as amazingly, despite having read one or two stories in anthologies etc, this is the first complete collection of C.K. Stead's I've read.
Vivid, and sometimes painfully realistic scenes (excepting the oddball title story at the end - no idea where that was truly heading until the last two pages). Slices of life that you could believe are in fact parts of the same person's life if you wanted to, with deliciously flawed but beautiful characters. Even a strange memoir of kinds?!!! I don't think I'll forget the writer who takes sly racing bets for the elderly dying Clarry Shrimpton in a hurry from 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. To be both sly and to hand-feed the lorikeets and magpies in the way that the character does is great characterisation. And even though this is not my usual reading material (hence the 3 stars rather than 5), I'm glad to have read this work of a lifetime. Thank you!
Vivid, and sometimes painfully realistic scenes (excepting the oddball title story at the end - no idea where that was truly heading until the last two pages). Slices of life that you could believe are in fact parts of the same person's life if you wanted to, with deliciously flawed but beautiful characters. Even a strange memoir of kinds?!!! I don't think I'll forget the writer who takes sly racing bets for the elderly dying Clarry Shrimpton in a hurry from 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. To be both sly and to hand-feed the lorikeets and magpies in the way that the character does is great characterisation. And even though this is not my usual reading material (hence the 3 stars rather than 5), I'm glad to have read this work of a lifetime. Thank you!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews