More Sawn-Off Tales by David Gaffney

More Sawn-Off Tales by David Gaffney

In stories that are laugh-out-loud funny, cringingly weird and desperately sad, Gaffney introduces the possibility of momentary actions that change everything; a swimming man sees a hundred glass eyes at the bottom of a river; and acomedian decides to express himself through the medium of smell.

Loaded with potent charges, insidious and cumulative in their effects, in Gaffney’s fiction thoughts take physical form, and the material world has a surreal vitalityThe stories are sometimes haunting, and sometimes comic.

* Times Literary Supplement *

Evanescent moments of connection and happiness. One hundred and fifty words by Gaffney are more worthwhile than novels by a good many others.

-- Nicholas Clee * The Guardian *

Utterly brilliant. Hilariously demented and wonderfully succinct. David Gaffney’s Sawn-Off Tales are little McNuggets of pure gold. This is writing at its best.

-- Graham Rawle

More Sawn-Off Tales is rich with phrases which will stick in the reader’s memory (‘I keep a ball of tissue under my armpit and drop shreds of it into her food to keep her loyal’) and ideas which are ripe for expansion into longer stories, such as the psychiatrists who organise arts activities for their manic patients so that they can burgle their houses.

* Workshy Fop *

Bleached Lichen Number Four is one of the most heart-wrenching stories of the collection, and depicts a man who attempts to communicate to his ex-girlfriend through the colour of her favourite paint. It, like many others in this fantastic collection, is a clever and poignant exploration of what it takes to be connected to another.

With More Sawn Off Tales, Gaffney has created very short stories that offer full, vivid and complete worlds for the reader to inhabit, and once inside they won’t want to leave.

-- Kylie Grant * The List *

In More Sawn-Off Tales Gaffney demonstrates his mastery over flash fiction, as he evokes sadness and humour in equal measure through the often tragic but fully formed characters in 70-plus stories.

* The Big Issue *

David Gaffney lives in Manchester. He is the author of the novels Never Never (2008), All The Places I’ve Ever Lived ( 2017) and Out Of The Dark (2022) plus the flash fiction and short story collections Sawn-Off Tales (2006), Aromabingo (2007), The Half-Life of Songs (2010) and More Sawn-Off Tales (2013). His graphic novels with Dan Berry include The Three Rooms In Valerie’s Head (2018) and Rivers (2021).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781784630997
ISBN 10	1784630993
Title	More Sawn-Off Tales
Author	David Gaffney
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Salt Publishing
Year published	2016-10-25
Number of pages	160
Prizes	Long-listed for Edge Hill Prize for the Short Story 2014 (UK)
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.