BOOKSELLER INFORMATION
Publication Date: 15-Apr-12 | ISBN: 9781907773181 | Trim Size: 198 x 129 mm | Extent: 240pp | Format: Paperback
UK & International Distribution: 
| Publishing Status: Active
SYNOPSIS
The second in a brand-new series of annual anthologies, The Best British Short Stories 2012 reprints the cream of short fiction, by British writers, first published in 2011. These stories first appeared in magazines from Ambit to Granta, in anthologies across various genres from publishers big and small, and in authors’ own short story collections. They were broadcast on radio and delivered by mobile phone app. They appeared online at Metazen and Paraxis.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Emma Jane Unsworth; HP Tinker; Michael Marshall Smith; Dan Powell; Julian Gough; Stuart Evers; Stella Duffy; Socrates Adams; Jonathan Trigell; Will Self; Jaki McCarrick; Robert Shearman; Alison MacLeod; Jo Lloyd; Neil Campbell; Joel Lane; Ramsey Campbell; Jeanette Winterson; Jon McGregor; A.K. Benedict
PRAISE FOR THIS BOOK
“Some pairings can be relied upon – literature and life, Steptoe and Son, Lennon and McCartney, Nicholas Royle and a good anthology.” —Andrew O’Hagan
“?A good core sample [Helen Simpson's analogy for the short story] tells you "everything you need to know about the history and geography and inhabitants and social conditions of the area, in wonderfully concise form." Drawn from writers both famous and unknown, from printed sources, radio and the web, the stories in this collection, more often than not, do just that.” —Carol Birch The Times Literary Supplement
“Prepare to be amazed, horrified and delighted! From the quirkiness of Will Self’s iAnna via the surrealism of HP Tinker’s Alice in Time & Space and Various Major Cities and the pure, cinematic light of Stella Duffy’s To Brixton Beach, to Jeanette Winterson’s bold and exquisitely written All I Know About Gertrude Stein, this eclectic anthology encompasses an astonishing variety of style and content, bound together by two book-end pieces, each set in a library.” —Susan Haigh The Short Review
PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS
“Slip this lightweight but nourishing anthology into your holiday bag. Editor Royle has selected 20 published stories from British writers. His own (excellent) taste means that little explosions of weirdness or transcendence often erupt amid much well-observed everyday life.” —Boyd Tonkin Independent
“It’s so good that it’s hard to believe that there was no equivalent during the 17 years since Giles Gordon and David Hughes’s Best English Short Stories ceased publication in 1994. The first selection makes a very good beginning” —Kate Saunders Times
“Let's hope this series becomes an annual fixture.” —Chris Power The Guardian
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Nicholas Royle was born in Manchester in 1963. He is the author of seven novels, including: Counterparts, Saxophone Dreams, and First Novel, and a short story collection, Mortality. He has edited sixteen anthologies, including A Book of Two Halves and Neonlit: Time Out Book of New Writing. He lives between London and Manchester and teaches creative writing at MMU.
