Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

A Bit on the Side: Stories
A Bit on the Side: Stories
A Bit on the Side: Stories
Audiobook5 hours

A Bit on the Side: Stories

Written by William Trevor

Narrated by Josephine Bailey and Simon Vance

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

William Trevor is truly a Chekhov for our age, and a new collection of stories from him is always a cause for celebration. These twelve stories include:

The waiter who divulges his shocking life of crime to his ex-wife.
A woman repeats the story of her parents' unstable marriage after a horrible tragedy.
The schoolgirl who regrets gossiping about the cuckolded man who tutors her.
A middle-aged couple meet in a theatre bar for a squalid blind date.
The disappointed priest who fears an innocent young girl may run away from home.
Two self-certain sisters visit a newly widowed local woman.
And, in the volume's title story, a middle-age accountant offers his reasons for ending a love affair.

From these slender moments Trevor creates whole lives, conjuring up characters marked by bitterness and loss. William Trevor's graceful prose is a wonder in itself, and as convincing when inhabiting the mind of a school lunchmaid, an adulterous Irish country librarian or a murderer on the London streets. And as is always the case with William Trevor, venom and tragedy are never far from the still surface of the stories.

At the heart of this stunning collection is Trevor's characteristic tenderness and unflinching eye for both the humanizing and dehumanizing aspects of modern urban and rural life.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 15, 2004
ISBN9781400171439
A Bit on the Side: Stories
Author

William Trevor

William Trevor KBE was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary writers of short stories in the English language.

More audiobooks from William Trevor

Related to A Bit on the Side

Related audiobooks

Psychological Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for A Bit on the Side

Rating: 3.7034884976744182 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

86 ratings4 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not being a fan of short stories, my opinion may not do this book any justice. The stories are deceptively mild, understated, yet providing insight into the human psyche even while it might appear that nothing much happens. Nevertheless, whether the subject is pleasant or repellant Trevor writes beautifully, eloquently capturing moments in time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This collection of short stories examines everyday life and relationships. The stories are intimate and self-contained. The characters are so real and the tiny dramas of their lives calls out the beauty of real life. It makes one appreciate the mundane details and see the loveliness of simply being alive.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This small collection of short stories was a bit of a disappointment. I have enjoyed several of Trevor's novels and story collections, but this one just didn't move me like other of his works. For the most part, the stories are about ordinary, mousey, even dull people living ordinary, dull lives. While this is true of other Trevor stories, his use of language has always been powerful, making me interested in and empathetic with the most ordinary of characters. That didn't happen for me in A Bit on the Side; for me, Trevor's usual poignancy was missing here.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I mean, Trevor is a great writer, but these stories seemed so FAMILIAR. Maybe the Irish village thing is played out.