Home > Categories > Books > Compilations > Jigs & Reels review
"A good short story can startle, ignite and illuminate ... giving you vivid, anarchic glimpses into different worlds, different people," says Joanne Harris in her foreword. Here, she proves she is as good as her word by creating an eclectic selection of tales for our times that will delight, surprise, entertain and horrify in equal measure.
Sly, funny, sometimes provocative but always personal, Jigs & Reels shows a side to Joanne Harris you have never seen before. So go on, be tempted. After all, it's only dancing.
Take your partners please.
Suburban witches, defiant old ladies, ageing monsters, suicidal Lottery winners, wolf men, dolphin women and middle-aged manufacturers of erotic leatherwear. In these twenty-two short stories from the author of Chocolat, Holy Fools and Five Quarters of the Orange, the miraculous goes hand-in-hand with the mundane, the sour with the sweet, and the beautiful, the grotesque, the seductive and the disturbing are never more than one step away.
Product reviews...
A stunning collection of tales from other Here & Now's. From the somewhat wickedly revengeful "Al and Christine's World of Leather" through to the somewhat dark "Waiting for Gandalf" there is something in here to widen anyone's eyes.
A volatile mix of plots and stories give this book a somewhat 'scattered' feel, but that is to be expected from a collection of self-contained stories. If you are used to novels, this is a pleasantly chaotic change of pace.
Overall, I found this to be the 'bonus prize in the cereal box' hiding on the bookshelf, and I am pleased to have had the chance to expand my literary boundaries another notch with this. A great collection from a prolific and accomplished author. Well worth the read, indeed.
Random listing from 'Books'...
On one of the city's hottest nights, New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas is sent to Central Park-and into a hellish new investigation. The victim is found on the rocks, just above the still, dark water of the lake. Around her neck is a single red ribbon. Her hands are posed, as if in prayer. But it is the eyes-removed with such precision, as if done with the careful hands of a surgeon-that have Dallas most alarmed.
As more ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."
Mark Twain