Getting It in the Head: Stories
Mike McCormack
ISBN: 9781641292252
Published: April 6, 2021
Pricing
Paperback $17.00
eBook $9.99
More books by Mike McCormack
Description
The acclaimed debut from the author of Booker-listed Solar Bones is a dark, uncanny collection of stunning breadth and audacity.
In this gothic, virtuoso debut collection, Mike McCormack dispenses nightmares both stylish and macabre. “A Is for Ax” offers an alphabetized account of the killing of a parent, ...
The acclaimed debut from the author of Booker-listed Solar Bones is a dark, uncanny collection of stunning breadth and audacity.
In this gothic, virtuoso debut collection, Mike McCormack dispenses nightmares both stylish and macabre. “A Is for Ax” offers an alphabetized account of the killing of a parent, while the title story tracks a chilling sibling rivalry. Others tell of a quiz on the road to Calvary, a door-to-door saleswoman trafficking in strange and menacing feats, and a self-mutilating artist pushing himself to the limit. These sly and dangerous stories, balanced on a knife’s edge between life and death, showcase a young writer’s mastery of wicked formal play.
Media
“Funny, fantastical tales that trample inventively on the toes of sanctimonious news media, provincial pride and the 20th century itself.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Sharp as knives, mixing tongue-in-cheek bog Gothic with metaphysical flourishes and lashings of ultraviolence.”
—The Guardian
“McCormack’s first collection of short stories ranges from the west of Ireland to New York to Purgatory . . . A helpless howl of protest that presages not only the end of the [twentieth] century but the end of civilisation itself.”
—Times Literary Supplement
“Remarkable, even at the most extreme moments.”
—The Irish Times
“There’s no denying McCormack’s knack for throwing a harsh light on some of life’s grimmer corners. Disturbing, audacious work.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A New York Times Notable Book of the Year”
“Winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature”