The Collected Stories

by MCGAHERN, JOHN

• ISBN13: 9780679744016
• ISBN10: 0679744010
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1994-03-15
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

These 34 funny, tragic, bracing, and acerbic stories represent the complete short fiction of one of Ireland's finest living writers. On struggling farms, in Dublin's rain-drenched streets, or in parched exile in Franco's Spain, McGahern's characters wage a confused but touching war against the facts of life.

Author Biography

John McGahern was the author of five highly acclaimed novels and four collections of short stories. His novel Amongst Women won the GPA Book Award and the Irish Times Award, was short-listed for the Booker Prize, and was made into a four-part BBC television series. He had been a visiting professor at Colgate University and at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and was the recipient of the Society of Authors’ Award, the American-Irish Award, and the Prix Étrangère Ecureuil, among other awards and honors. His work appeared in anthologies and was translated into many languages. He died in 2006.

Table of Contents

Wheels	p. 3
Why We're Here	p. 12
Coming into his Kingdom	p. 16
Christmas	p. 23
Hearts of Oak and Bellies of Brass	p. 29
Strandhill, the Sea	p. 39
The Key	p. 45
Korea	p. 54
Lavin	p. 59
My Love, My Umbrella	p. 65
Peaches	p. 75
The Recruiting Officer	p. 100
The Beginning of an Idea	p. 112
A Slip-up	p. 127
All Sorts of Impossible Things	p. 133
Faith, Hope and Charity	p. 146
The Stoat	p. 152
Doorways	p. 158
The Wine Breath	p. 178
Along the Edges	p. 188
Swallows	p. 200
Gold Watch	p. 211
Parachutes	p. 226
A Ballad	p. 239
Oldfashioned	p. 249
Like All Other Men	p. 272
Eddie Mac	p. 281
Crossing the Line	p. 295
High Ground	p. 306
Sierra Leone	p. 316
The Conversion of William Kirkwood	p. 331
Bank Holiday	p. 350
The Creamery Manager	p. 366
The Country Funeral	p. 374
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.