A Short Affair

by Simon Oldfield

Simon Oldfield, director of the acclaimed Pin Drop storytelling studio, brings together a beautiful anthology of short stories. A Short Affair features the giants of the short form – A L Kennedy, Will Self, Lionel Shriver, Nikesh Shukla, Ben Okri, Elizabeth Day and Claire Fuller – alongside new voices from the prodigious Pin Drop short story award.
 
Illuminating, beautiful, haunting and always interesting, A Short Affair is a vibrant anthology bringing you the very best in short story writing.
 

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2018

Reviews

[India Baring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended. Enjoyed discovering new writers. The stories each pack a punch with well developed plots and characters. The beauty of this book (aside from its cover!) is that there is not a single theme for the collection (as is the case with many other collections), so each story is a whole new experience with different worlds and interesting twists. If anything, the stories are unified by the consistently high quality of writing. Found myself reading lots of short story collections recently and this has to be one of the best.

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant collection of short stories that left me discomforted, content, happy & grossed out. Not all at the same time though. Definitely read it & I shall be seeking out the podcast Pin Drop produces, I have been trying to get into audio books (with little success so far, maybe a short story would be better at keeping my attention til the end) & we all need a bedtime story sometimes.

[IntoBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent anthology.

[James Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really exceptional collection of short stories with great variation of themes from a range of writers. Favourite stories include: Heart's Last Pass by Douglas W. Milliken, How They Turned Out by Lionel Shriver, Morelia Spilota by Cherise Saywell and Didi's by Nikesh Shukla. Loved discovering new writers, who definitely stand up against the big names. Artwork lovely addition too, picking up on fascinating parts of each story. Pin Drop sounds like an interesting organisation...cool little studio and will be looking out for more from them.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

mixed bag

[Angela Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't always have time for a novel and always enjoy short stories. But I'd read the classics and wanted something new. Didn't know where to start though, so asked around and two collections were recommended to me. I was very impressed by A Short Affair and loved meeting all the interesting characters in the stories. It's a great collection and a beautiful book to put on your shelf.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to be really into this book. It had so much potential, the authors were all very impressive and I loved the idea. However, I think I just cannot get my head around the format of short stories. I feel a bit short-changed by them, like I haven't been told enough of the story, like there should be something more. Also, I did feel like some of the stories were trying to be innovative but actually not getting anywhere. I was a little put off in the middle by a couple of stories which were out of my genre-scope.

I did enjoy the story by Elizabeth Day, a favourite of mine, and several of the more social-orientated stories which allowed an insight into someones life. As noted above, they did just feel a bit like adverts for a film I was never going to get to watch!

[Shiv · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first time reading an anthology of short stories, but probably not my last. Some tales I much preferred to others, and some I hated. Having such a range of genres and writing styles helped me realise what I do and don't like in a story.

My overall ratings of the individual stories are as follows:

The kiss 7/10
On heat 7/10
Ms Featherstone and the Beast 7/10
Didi's 7/10
A tidy quiet man 9/10
The lighting of the lamp 4/10
These silver fish 1/10
Panic attack 6/10
The way I breathed 3/10
Feathers thick with oil 4/10
Hearts last pass 3/10
Civilisation 2/10
Rough beasts 2/10
Under the waves 6/10
Paper chains 8/10
Brads rooster feed 6/10
Freshwater 5/10
Morelia Spilota 5/10
How they turned out 5/10
Sunbed 5/10

[Serena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrowed it to try reading literary fiction, but it really isn’t for me. The first two were pretty good. On Heat and Ms Featherstone and the Beast. People who’ve watched season 4 of the Crown, if you’re like me, pleased to understand the background info in the second story.

[Genevieve · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh, the first few read really easily but some towards the end just weren't engaging, but maybe that was me.

[Helen Hoath · Rating 3 out of 5]

I‘m not really a short story person, but this was good to dip into

[Amb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
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I grazed through this book, small short stories that were really enjoyable. This book also allowed you to put down and pick up whenever you wanted something short to read

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Friends bought me A Short Affair for my birthday recently. It's a lovely looking book, but a rather random collection of stories, I thought. The stories which resonated with me most were Joanna Campbell's Brad's Rooster Food; Bethan Roberts' Ms Featherstone and the Beast; Claire Fuller's A Quiet Tidy Man and Barney Walsh's Under The Waves. I couldn't even finish Lionel Shriver's story. It was far too wordy for a short story. Very interesting that my favourites were either shortlisted or winners of The Pin Drop Short Story Award. Stories by the 'well known' authors in the collection, like Will Self and Ben Okri, left me cold.

[Emily Fletcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this collection to be strong hit-and-miss. The concept is really interesting, and I loved the intertwining of the art pieces with the stories. The writing is consistently impressive but the narratives are what falls flat for me in some of the stories. Stories that 'dazzled' me (to reference Stephen Fry's review on the cover, dammit Stephen I will read anything you recommend me) were Under the Waves, Paper Chains, Ms Featherstone and the Beast, A Quiet Tidy Man and These Silver Fish.

[CenReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to be honest I did find myself struggling with this book. I’m unsure why. It could have been the stories I’m just not sure. I even tried to read it again but to no avail.
I think that this book and the various stories were not for me.