Book description
In 'Death by Art Deco', successful author Andrea Heysham
regrets agreeing to judge the 'Untapped Talent Short Story
Competition' the very minute that submissions start pouring through
her letterbox. After tarnishing most of the manuscripts with red wine
and cigarette ash, she finally chooses one, by 17-year old Lily, to be
her winner - but her fellow judges disagree and she is out-voted.
Outraged and humiliated, Andrea decides to approach the star-struck
but vulnerable Lily with a proposition.
In 'The Index of Embarrassment', Freddy visits his Uncle Bob,
a misanthropic recluse who has spent decades compiling an 'index of
embarrassment' - a collection covering everything from song lyrics to
the human body. When Bob's neighbour, Dennis, is found hanged in his
apartment, Bob dismisses the tragedy and is more concerned with
retrieving the stepladder he had lent to the deceased. Alarmed by this
latest display of cold cynicism, Freddy resolves to endure all manner
of embarrassment in the name of human kindness, lest he end up like
his uncle.
Part of the Storycuts series, these two stories were previously
published in the collection The Atmospheric Railway.
Shena Mackay was born in Edinburgh. She is the author of four
previous collections of stories -
Babies in Rhinestones
,
Dreams of Dead Women's Handbags
,
The Laughing Academy
and
The World's Smallest Unicorn
. Her novels include
Dunedin
,
The Orchard on Fire
(which was shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize),
The Artist's Widow
and
Heligoland
(which was shortlisted for the 2003 Orange Prize).
