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Speaking with the Angel |  |
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Speaking with the Angel | |
The editor, Nick (High Fidelity) Hornby, as well as writing a moving and very heartfelt introduction--his own child is autistic--submits one of the best efforts: "Nipple Jesus", a slyly funny parable about a security man guarding a chunk of dubious modern art. Other notable contributions come from Irvine (Trainspotting) Welsh with one of his identity-swap-stories, this time about a Scottish stud-muffin turned into an unwitting gay, and John (The Best A Man Can Get) O'Farrell, with a predictably funny, surprisingly edgy confessional from a mime artist slowly going to the dogs. Other big names included are Helen Fielding, Robert Harries, Zadie Smith, Roddy Doyle, et al.
As with many of these projects, there is a slight feeling of incestuousness; Hornby actually admits that Harries is married to his sister, and that O'Farrell went to his school. But given the goodness of the cause, it's no real reason to quibble. --Sean Thomas
Review
The title, borrowed from a bit of pop music that editor Hornby ("About a Boy", 1998) happens to have heard, is a tip-off: This anthology of younger, mostly English writers lacks an organizing theme, and without it the assemblage of pleasantly written stories seems vaguely aimless..Hornby explains in his introduction that the collection was gathered and sold to benefit schools for autistic students like the one his son attends. Readers less motivated by the desire to make a contribution to this worthy enterprise than by the wish to find something new from a favorite emerging writer will find several reliable young names on display. Hornby contributes "NippleJesus," about a former bar bouncer hired as a security guard at an art gallery: Rube Meets Art, with some predictable catharses. David Eggers ("A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", 1999) adds a desultory bit of ventriloquism, in a story told by a dog who discovers all the usual things about happiness and sadness and life while running very fast through the woods. Zadie Smith ("White Teeth", 1999) presents a young man's troubled history with his sister, and Robert Harris ("Archangel", 1998) records the amusing self-exculpation a prime minister presents to Parliament in the aftermath of his wild night with a 15-year-old girl. There's nothing new under the sun, it seems: These fictions trace the search for love and "connection" to something, and only Irvine Welsh ("Filth", 1999, etc.) and Roddy Doyle ("A Star Called Henry", 1999, etc.) bring an authentic graininess to the party. The charms here are more likely to be found in the method of presentation, the fluency and distinction of the voices, than in the stories themselves..Softly served and easy to swallow, competent and pointless, these tales are adequate to their purpose, and each is ripe in hip if green in heart.. (Kirkus Reviews)
