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Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys
Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys
Dec 6, 2024 2:27 AM

Author:Will Self

Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys

Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys - stories by Booker-shortlisted author Will Self

'Self at his most nihilistic and funny; you'll laugh and flinch at the same time' Guardian

'Self has turned out an hilarious collection, with the requisite touch of disorientation. "Flytopia", the story about a man who suddenly finds flies more lovable than his girlfriend, follows the Kafkaesque line Self opened with his recent novel Great Apes - man as animal ... "Story for Europe", about a two-year-old north Londoner who suddenly starts speaking business German, is comic genius' Brenda Maddox, New Statesman

'When Will Self wants to step outside his cultivated amoral threshold and shock us into rage, the effect can be profound ... an awesome London Dungeon of a collection ... Self is a massive talent' Time Out

'He has a powerful sense of place: the murkier streets of London ... where anything can happen ... And modernity is his urgent subject' The Times

For readers of The Book of Dave and Umbrella, Tough, Tough Boys... will also be adored by readers of Martin Amis, David Mitchell and Irvine Welsh.

Will Self is the author of nine novels including Cock and Bull; My Idea of Fun; Great Apes; How the Dead Live; Dorian, an Imitation; The Book of Dave; The Butt; Walking to Hollywood and Umbrella, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He has written five collections of shorter fiction and three novellas: The Quantity Theory of Insanity; Grey Area; License to Hug; The Sweet Smell of Psychosis; Design Faults in the Volvo 760 Turbo; Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys; Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe and Liver: A Fictional Organ with a Surface Anatomy of Four Lobes. Self has also compiled a number of nonfiction works, including The Undivided Self: Selected Stories; Junk Mail; Perfidious Man; Sore Sites; Feeding Frenzy; Psychogeography; Psycho Too and The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Prawn Cracker.

Reviews

Funny, infectious, exuberant, sharp, sad and beautifully observed

—— Sarah Dunant

A witty, observant and passionate collection of stories

—— Woman & Home

The stories loiter disturbingly in the memory, a terrific compendium of messy lives, betrayals, heartbreaks and tragedies

—— Independent on Sunday

Themes of infidelity and insecure lives of folk in the big city dominate Caroline Oulton's first collection of short stories ... A sad, funny, closely observed set of tales about the seemingly different lives of people living in a London neighbourhood.

—— Ham & High

The stories themselves are interwoven skilfully and each provides a satisfying probe into the characters' illicit lives, which engage you wholly, in the same guilty way as a gossip magazine. Oulton's prose is effective, nakedly frank and at intervals, truly delightful.

—— Time Out

This new series of Central European Classics is important well beyond simply providing 'good reads'.

—— Stephen Vizinczey , Daily Telegraph

Enright writes beautifully about the distance of desire

—— Financial Times

Dazzling ...These narrative snapshots are skilfully framed and in-focus, the language forthright and fresh

—— Time Out

This short story collection gives those new to her oeuvre a chance to delve into gems from her past...precociously vibrant

—— Melissa McClements , Financial Times

All the elements of Welsh's best work remain in tact here: the brilliant imagination, the phonetically-transcribed Scots dialect, the humour, the gritty realism

—— Woman's Way

What's striking about these early stories is that the thicker Welsh was steeped in the primordial goo of his Edinburgh Scots phonetics, the better the storytelling got

—— Alexander Linklater , Observer

As you would expect, the stories in this collection involve a certain amount of cultural tourism to the lower depths, undertaken with black humour... Welsh's relish for degradation covers up a strong sentimental streak

—— Victor Sebestyen , Sunday Times

Welsh's transcription of Scots dialect is brilliant... Welsh also has a fabulous sense of the absurd... The overall vibe of these stories is dark and grim. And fierily, fiercely funny

—— Brandon Robshaw , Independent on Sunday

A sparkling and adventurous writer

—— Dennis Potter
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