{"product_id":"9780349007052","title":"Dancing On the Outskirts","description":"Author: Shena Mackay\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9780349007052\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Little Brown\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 30 Oct 2018\u003cbr\u003ePages: 320 \u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere is a wonderful collection of short stories by the writer known for 'the Mackay vision, suburban - as kitsch, as unexceptional, and yet as rich in history and wonder as a plain Victorian terrace house, its threshold radiant with tiling and stained-glass birds of paradise encased in leaded lights' - \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShena Mackay, who first came to fame before the age of twenty with two novellas, is the doyenne of the short form.  In this volume of previously uncollected stories - including those read on radio - she constantly surprises with a view of the ordinary world that is not at all ordinary.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA grasshopper determinedly takes up residence on a bathroom ceiling; a gecko hiding in a cupboard brings a strange sort of luck; a woman spies from a distance two older women friends after many long years and a memory of how they gallopedin the playground as Starlight Blaze and Pepperpot plays sweetly, suddenly in her mind; pigs are swaddled in blankets, looking like babies in shawls; luggage is packed with youthful hopes and ideals.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShe observes how people rub along and reveals the best and worst of us all: a disgruntled schoolboy and his hapless teacher conquer mountains and their antipathy for each other; a girl with green eyes and iridescent hair discovers revenge; a race to be the best mushroom-picker creates only losers; and rotten apples, in the right pair of hands, make a loving pie. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Shena Mackay is a generous and keen-eyed chronicler of the everyday; she deftly brings wisdom and humour to the worlds she creates, worlds that we suddenly, excitingly see anew.   She is an utterly original writer.","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47901040312478,"sku":"ING-9780349007052","price":40.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9780349007052.jpg?v=1782352182","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9780349007052","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}