England and Other Stories

“Powerful . . . showcase[s] Mr. Swift’s talents as a writer: his gift for psychological observation, his sure sense of craft, his ability to distill nuanced emotional truths from the effluvia of ordinary life.” —The New York Times

“Remarkably expressive. . . . Poignant. . . . One of the pleasures of the aptly titled England is how completely Swift’s characters seem to inhabit their origins.” —The Washington Post

“Outstanding. . . . [Swift’s] verbal intelligence is matched, then more than matched, by the emotional intelligence at work.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
“[A] rich, lively collection. . . . The best thing about these stories, what carries the reader smoothly along with the grace and ease of a gondolier on the Grand Canal, is Swift’s prose style. It’s a theatrical act of balance and lightness.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Swift often achieves more in a line than many strive for in a page. . . . The overall impression is one of abundance, of cumulative storytelling riches.” —Financial Times
 
“An affectionate, opinionated, sometimes funny, sometimes sad picture of England and its people. . . . Perhaps [the stories’] greatest strength comes from their richness of detail.” —Washington Times
 
“[A] beautifully realised collection. . . . A masterpiece of irony and understatement.” —The Times (London)
 
“Exquisite.” —The Independent
 
“In the hands of a master like Swift, the [short story] redeems its image. . . . What makes Swift’s work succeed so beautifully . . . is the sustaining power of voice.” —Wichita Eagle
 
“Taut with emotional authenticity and psychological acuteness. . . . Ordinary lives become extraordinary in Graham Swift’s powerful stories.” —The Sunday Times (London)
 
“A sharp, beautiful collection. . . . [Swift’s] touch is so light and craftsmanlike, his scene shifts so subtle, his emotional logic so incontrovertible, that sometimes we hardly notice where they have taken us.” —The Guardian
 
“A collection at once elegant, humble and humane. . . . Swift is the laureate of unassuming English understatement.” —The Independent on Sunday
 
“Imbued with deceptive brilliance. . . . Perhaps more than any other writer working today, Graham Swift has a knack of writing stories that sneak up on you.” —The Sydney Morning Herald
 
“Swift’s compact, thought-provoking tales . . . offer the complex enlightenment that only good fiction can provide.” —New Statesman
 
“Though entertaining in their own right, these tales also lay bare, in their brevity and economy, the mechanics of Swift’s approach to storytelling.” —Toronto Star
 
“A fine collection. . . . These unadorned tales can be heartbreaking.”  —The Daily Telegraph
 
“Swift seems able to totally inhabit any sort of character. . . . One finishes Swift’s book thinking that there is no such thing as England, there are only English people, each one a unique part of a country it is impossible to define.” —Sunday Express
 
“Swift’s short stories harpoon aspects of the human condition, the universal in the everyday.” —The Spectator
 
“A masterly collection that is noteworthy both for the quality of its storytelling and the gemlike polish of its prose.” —Book Reporter