Tuesday 10 March 2015

Book Review - Adventures In Time and Place, by Ray Anselmo



This collection is quite exceptional. Aside from the smoothly eloquent writing and off-the-wall creativity, what chiefly blew me away was Anselmo's enormous range. The stories are hugely diverse, the characters all very, very different from each other, but whether it's a washed-up astronaut, a teenage kid, a mediaeval priest - each one speaks in an authentic and compeltely believable voice. There are no cardboard cutouts, no trite situations here - every single story is a little jewel of originality. I was truly sorry when I came to the end of the last one.

Particular favourites among the stories were The Man From Calla Faurnia, American Girl and It's All Right, but really every single story - I just can't praise them enough.

Each story is introduced by the author, with charm, urbanity and insightful observations, and this gave the collection overall a beautifully personal quality that made it even more special. Certainly Adventures In Time and Place is going on my list of best reads in 2015.

Adventures in Time and Place is available from AMAZON.

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