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From the writer of the award-winning Game of Thrones series for HBO based on the books of George R. R. Martin.
Over the course of eight tales, often with an appealing touch of the surreal, we are introduced to a record comany exec searching for a rock star, an inexperienced Russian soldier trapped between his murderous colleagues and a clever old woman, a faded football star recalling his lost chance at love, an acress who has a shot at a role that will free her from a lifetime of waitressing, a young man who kidnap’s his ex-girlfriend’s father’s ashes, and other young people on the cusp of discovery, jubilation or loss.
As he evokes the various states of agony and pleasure – humiliation, rebellion, cameraderie, and desire – Benioff displays a profound understanding of how single moments lead to transformation, and how sadness can be illuminated by a humorous flip side.
Over the course of eight tales, often with an appealing touch of the surreal, we are introduced to a record comany exec searching for a rock star, an inexperienced Russian soldier trapped between his murderous colleagues and a clever old woman, a faded football star recalling his lost chance at love, an acress who has a shot at a role that will free her from a lifetime of waitressing, a young man who kidnap’s his ex-girlfriend’s father’s ashes, and other young people on the cusp of discovery, jubilation or loss.
As he evokes the various states of agony and pleasure – humiliation, rebellion, cameraderie, and desire – Benioff displays a profound understanding of how single moments lead to transformation, and how sadness can be illuminated by a humorous flip side.
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Reviews
This is a superb collection, and it proves that Benioff can handle the long and the short of the fiction game
American men are Benioff's terrain. On his home turf he's briliant. Benioff's gaunt but never scrawny prose is perfect for these stories. This style, a pared-down realism enlivened by the occasional fantastic flourish, acts as an elegant summation of the author's apparently complex relationship with fiction.
Deliciously accessible stories . . . will hook you fast, and they'll keep you hooked
All [the stories] are highly charged portraits of young men on the cusp of something momentous, be it their first war or their first love affair. Benioff is particularly good at using the compressed lives of lonely individuals to convey something of an incomprehensible world beyond.
The latest master of the zippy, punchy, knee-to-the-groin story is David Benioff . . . Wonderful collection
An ace storyteller
All [the stories] are highly charged portraits of young men on the cusp of something momentous, be it their first war or their first love affair. Benioff is particularly good at using the compressed lives of lonely individuals to convey something of an incomprehensible world beyond.. The best story, The Barefoot Girl in Clover, is also the simplest . . . Its potent atmosphere of lost adolescence lingers like heat on tarmac.
A short story collection as good as this is a reminder of how pleasurable reading can be. In his crisp use of language, his neat way with a twist and his fondness for the elliptical, Benioff displays his screenwriting credentials... The title story is both funny and sharp, displaying an unexpected warmth towards his characters. The Devil Comes Home is even better, describing the terrible dilemma faced by a young Russian soldier . . . When The Nines Roll Over has its own, sharply original quality; worth reading for its humour, description of character and the oddity of its insights.
The book's eight stories are written with both a literary writer's care and a film writer's instinct for courting his readers or viewers. He hooks them, reels them in and does his best to make them happy to be in the boat with him -- until he lets them go a few hours later
Benioff has taken the world and cut it into hard, bright diamonds. These stories are luminous
A deft stylist who's a notch or two tamer than Chuck Palahniuk and T. C. Boyle, Benioff finds levity amidst the gravity in a world where the simplest of moments can change the course of our lives
American men are Benioff's terrain. On his home turf he's briliant. Benioff's gaunt but never scrawny prose is perfect for these stories. This style, a pared-down realism enlivened by the occasional fantastic flourish, acts as an elegant summation of the author's apparently complex relationship with fiction.
'The latest master of the zippy, punchy, knee-to-the-groin story is David Benioff . . . Wonderful collection'
'If its high notes can be sustained throughout a second novel, David Benioff could have a success on his hands'
'A short story collection as good as this is a reminder of how pleasurable reading can be. In his crisp use of language, his neat way with a twist and his fondness for the elliptical, Benioff displays his screenwriting credentials... The title story is both funny and sharp, displaying an unexpected warmth towards his characters. The Devil Comes Home is even better, describing the terrible dilemma faced by a young Russian soldier... When The Nines Roll Over has its own, sharply original quality; worth reading for its humour, description of character and the oddity of its insights.'
'When the Nines Roll Over has its own, sharply original quality; worth reading for its humour, description of character and the oddity of it insights.'