Description

‘Ways of Telling isn’t like any other book. Is it social reportage, the eye at the keyhole, the war at the door? It is its own thing.’ Margaret Atwood

‘I couldn’t love it more. After the very first story I had a huge wide grin on my face. More more more! Every single story could be an award-winning short film. I love, love, love it.’ Carey Mulligan

‘An extraordinary book. Xandra Bingley’s darting, curious eyes miss nothing and we follow them with her at a headlong speed. I wish I could write like that.’ Harriet Walter

‘Fractured, haunting, intimate and totally original, Ways of Telling knocked the breath out of me. It’s dangerously exact, wilfully ambitious, wild in its scope and perfect in its precision.’ Olivia Laing

‘The pieces in this book are just the right size to blow one’s mind in a train or on a tram: they have a most unusual delicacy, wit and freshness, and their physical world is powerfully seductive.’ Helen Garner

From the bestselling author of Bertie, May & Mrs Fish comes a remarkable collection of stories. As a bystander at Princess Diana’s funeral, a fan at a James Brown concert, a passenger on a Welsh bus and a patient in a hectic hospital, Xandra Bingley’s vivid portraits of everyday experience remind us of the fleeting and mysterious transience of life.

Publisher Review

“With an evident love for language and the subtle textures of daily life, Bingley provides a dazzling trip inside her mind that rewards close attention. It’s a gem.” * Publishers Weekly * ‘A sharp, wise and knowing eye, combined with a rare delicacy of prose – this is unlike anything else you will have read. An absolute treat.’ Andrew Marr

‘Xandra Bingley is a perfect electrometer, bending, protruding and drawing in what she sees, hears and remembers: these stories are sound archives, snap shots and spots of time. I love their generosity of soul and the timbre of the narrative voice. Reading Xandra is as mesmeric as being read to.’ Frances Wilson