This brilliant sequence of short stories, first published in 1995, sees James Hamilton-Patterson serving up fables and fictions on creativity, tradition and loss, all of them linked by the love of music and underpinned by a musical theme. An escaped lunatic who thinks he is Schumann interrupts a quiet family picnic; a Croat refugee gifted at the guitar enters and unsettles a woman's life; and a Chinese master-teacher struggles with a pupil who would dare to modify a musical canon.
'Written in a wide range of voices... (these tales) reveal an imagination as wide-ranging as it is dazzling. Astonishingly versatile... extremely funny.' Christina Patterson, Independent
'Beautiful, eerie, witty, astute, dazzling.' Observer
'As perfect a collection of short stories as you're ever likely to come across.' Paul Sussman, Independent on Sunday
- ISBN10 0571320856
- ISBN13 9780571320851
- Publish Date 18 September 2014 (first published 13 July 1995)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 17 August 2022
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Edition Main
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 208
- Language English