Speaking with the Angel

Well, ugh. Who would have thought that the best story in a collection populated with capital-W Writers would be the one written by a non-Writer (namely, Colin Firth)? I got this book from the library solely for Patrick Marber's contribution, as I love his play/screenplay Closer and want to read everything he's done. But I was unimpressed by his story "Peter Shelley", which seems too easy. And the story by Roddy Doyle (another of my favorite living writers) was also kind of bad, though it seemed to try so hard.

This was my first experience with Dave Eggers, who is apparently the most pretentious git to have ever written. His story is insufferable in every way. It was also my first experience with Zadie Smith, though I own both White show more Teeth and On Beauty. Her story was pleasant but empty.

Irvine Welsh's story was revolting. Helen Fielding's was plastic. John O Farrell's was amusing but ultimately inconsequential. Overall, it's a pretty wilted collection.

The bright spots are "PMQ" (Robert Harris), "NippleJesus" (Nick Hornby), and "Department of Nothing" (Colin Firth). Firth's is easily the best story in the collection, probably because it has no pretensions and is the least self-conscious. If the man writes anything more, I'll read it. show less

i was glad to pick this up because of the 12 authors in the collection, i'd read one thing by a few of them before, and that was it. all of the stories are alright and a couple are particularly good. i especially didn't enjoy irvine welsh and helen fielding, and thought that nick hornby's story was really good, and that roddy doyle's was fantastic and worth reading the entire book for.

I bought this because I was curious about Colin Firth's story. (Good!) I have also read the others (generally, also good) except for the one by Irvine Welsh, which I stopped reading after two pages. I don't need to bother with that kind of language.

The problem with this as a collection is that there is nothing holding it together.

Edited by Nick Hornby, this collection of short stories includes the work of some excellent and often best-selling contemporary writers. This sort of collection is usually a mixed bag for me as a reader, but Speaking with the Angel was made up almost entirely of high-quality, entertaining fiction. High points were the efforts of Dave Eggers, Zadie Smith, and Hornby himself, and the only story I didn't enjoy was Irvine Welsh's unsubtle, unfunny "Catholic Guilt You (Know You Like It)." I'll second one reviewer's note that even Colin Firth's piece is surprisingly good.

Overall, the collection is very strong (and very worth recommending).

I picked this up because I was looking for a reasonably light and fun, but not brainless, collection, so Nick Hornby seemed the way to go. Mission accomplished; that's exactly what this was. Some stories were better than others, but that's to be expected in any collection.

A portion of the proceeds from the cover price go toward schools for kids with autism, making me feel like a big jerk for having bought this used. Ah, well.

This compilation has my very favorite short story, which succinctly describes a deeply held view I have about art. It's the one by Nick Horby, who I just love to bits and pieces, and it's called Nipple Jesus. Also, proceeds go to autism research, so come for the Nipple Jesus, stay for the altruism.

Short stories, written for a good cause, but which fail to stick in the mind. Hornby’s introduction, however, in which he talks about his son's autism, does, as does the afterword by a woman who’s benefited from the cause he’s supporting.