A Slanting of the Sun

Winner of the 2015 European Prize for Literature

An October 2015 Indie Next Selection

“Donal Ryan is among the great contemporary chroniclers of grief, loss and bewilderment.” — The Independent

“Donal Ryan is a master of the magnetic first line. . . His faithful subject is rural despair; the poetry of adversity, the baffling fortitude of intrinsically decent people. . . Each unit of language has been scrupulously positioned, though the overall effect is of effortlessness. . . This collection shows Ryan adding his own elastic yet distinctive voice to [Irish writer Frank] O’Connor’s impeccable tradition.” — The Guardian

“A Slanting of the Sun confirms that Donal Ryan is, without doubt, of the most exciting voices in contemporary Irish fiction.” — JP O’Malley in The Sunday Independent

“When Donal Ryan mixes equal parts terror and wistful the results can be mesmerising… Donal Ryan proves himself yet again to be one of the most imaginatively daring writers at work in English today.” — RTÉ Ten

“Donal Ryan is a heartbreaker, his quicksilver prose laced with all the wistful rhythms of his Irish forefathers. These breathtaking stories explore human love against an uneasy landscape of violence and desperation.” –  Imogen Lycett-Green in The Daily Mail

“As in [Donal Ryan’s] novels, the calibrations of small-town life are forensically observed . . . Ryan’s skill with language flicks out slang and abuse with a masterly touch . . . his ear is sharply attuned and his sense of irony remains mordant.” – Roy Foster in the Irish Times

“One of [Ireland’s] most remarkable writers has produced a book of short stories of such visceral power that they hit you in the solar plexus.” — Irish Mail on Sunday

“Ryan is already such a master of the short form that even when you dread the outcome, you can’t stop reading.” — The Irish Independent

“[C]rystal clear sparkling prose tells heartbreaking tales of loneliness, isolation and displacement.” — The Irish Post

“A Slanting of the Sun is bursting with ideas. It reveals a limitless capacity for hope and a writer unlikely to run out of inspiring material.” — The Sunday Times

THE THING ABOUT DECEMBER: 

“Stunning.” — Booklist (Starred Review)

“The writing in this novel is simply amazing . . . [it] will at times make readers cry and at others, laugh in delighted recognition.” — Library Journal (Starred Review)

THE SPINNING HEART:

“Reminiscent of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying . . . Ryan writes with compassion, honesty and an appealing deadpan humor.” — The New York Times Book Review

A “startling debut.” — Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Disturbing and unnerving but ultimately beautiful.” — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

A “short, swift, brutally funny romp through the fallout of a national disaster.” — The Boston Globe