Penguin, 1987-12-02. paperback. Good. 5x1x8. Posted within 1 working day. 1st class tracked post to the UK, Airmail tracked worldwide. Robust recyclable packaging.

Synopsis

Though Lively (Moon Tiger; Perfect Happiness) can be satirical, even wicked, these 36 stories (two earlier collections from England plus assorted recent stories, some published in US magazines) are mostly gentle, affectionate portraits of English men and women who muddle through. While there's a host of types and situations here, most center on village streets, petty bourgeoisie society, and academia. In truth, when a character in "Venice, Now and Then" says that "Things are so inconstant. That's the trouble," she could be speaking for most of her fictional cohorts: an aging English lady with insomnia ("The Voice of God in Adelaide Terrace"); a befuddled housewife whose "treasure" of a maid turns out to be a domineering sneak-thief ("Help"); and a professor suffering through the small humiliations of academia ("Revenant as Typewriter"), among many others. In addition to "Help," other notables include: "Nothing Missing but the Samovar," about a German Anglophile who spends a touching season with a sympathetically drawn family of shabbygenteel aristocrats at the end of their economic tether; "Corruption," a delicately textured portrait involving an aging judge, his wife, a female interloper, and a box of confiscated pornography; "The Pill Box," very short and a little metafictional ("How, having glimpsed the possibility of the impossible, can the world remain as steady as you had supposed?"); and" The Dream Merchant," a whimsical portrait of a sensible man who sells dreams from 9:30-5:00 but doesn't believe in them: "that was the secret of his success." Occasionally cloying or thin, but mostly solid work, full of character, incident, and elegiac charm. (Kirkus Reviews)

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Details

Bookseller: M Godding Books Ltd (GB)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 255059
Title: Pack of Cards: Stories 1978-1986
Author: Lively, Penelope
Format/Binding: Paperback
Book Condition: Used - Good
Quantity Available: 1
ISBN 10: 0140102396
ISBN 13: 9780140102390
Publisher: Penguin
Place of Publication: London
Date Published: 1987-12-02
Size: 5x1x8
Bookseller catalogs: Short Stories;
X weight: 18 oz

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M Godding Books Ltd

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About M Godding Books Ltd

The business trades in a variety of on-line products. Our business is currently expanding its already large collection of books, and other media. Established in 2005, the business became M Godding Ltd in April 2006. It is a family run business trading from Devizes in Wiltshire, England. It aims for satisfied customers through a friendly and efficient service. Our book shop specialises in rare, older used books including many first editions