Description

‘A marvel of a collection’ Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time
‘A consummate storyteller’ New York Times

‘There is nothing more terrifying than the monster that squats behind the door you dare not open…’

The bestselling author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time weaves ancient fables into fresh, unexpected forms and forges new unforgettable legends.

The myth of the Minotaur in his labyrinth is turned into a wrenching parable of maternal love – and of the monstrosities of patriarchy.

The lover of a goddess, Tithonus, is gifted eternal life but without eternal youth.

Actaeon, changed into a stag after glimpsing the naked Diana and torn to pieces by his hunting dogs, becomes a visceral metaphor about how humans use and misuse animals.

From genetic engineering to the eternal complications of family, Haddon showcases how we are subject to the same elemental forces that obsessed the Greeks, as he reimagines stories from Laika the Soviet space dog on her fateful orbit to St Anthony wrestling with loneliness in the desert.

‘In sentences as precisely cut as paper sculptures, Mark Haddon fits ancient myth to the cruelties and wonders of the present’ Francis Spufford, author of Cahokia Jazz

Publisher Review

‘A marvel of a collection – suffused with curiosity, humanity and mystery, bold in its scope and virtuoso in its telling. Mark Haddon makes stories matter’ * Kaliane Bradley * ‘In sentences as precisely cut as paper sculptures, Mark Haddon fits ancient myth to the cruelties and wonders of the present’ * Francis Spufford * Praise for Mark Haddon’s short stories:
‘The real redemption in these superbly gripping stories comes from their canny human detail, and the vivid, unsettling clarity they bring to our brief lives’ Sunday Times * Sunday Times * ‘He is a master of the short form’ * i paper * ‘Exquisite . . . The reader might assume that Haddon . . . can describe anything. Such a reader would not be disappointed’ * The Times *