Touchy Subjects - by Emma Donoghue (Paperback)

About the Book

In this sparkling collection of 19 stories, the bestselling author of Slammerkin returns to contemporary affairs, exposing the private dilemmas that result from public controversies.

Book Synopsis

'Excellent new collection... Her touch is so light and exuberantly inventive, her insight at once so forensic and intimate, her people so ordinary even in their oddities. ... Unnervingly exact.' - Guardian

In this sparkling collection of nineteen stories, the bestselling author of Slammerkin returns to contemporary affairs, exposing the private dilemmas that result from some of our most public controversies. A man finds God and finally wants to father a child--only his wife is now forty-two years old. A coach's son discovers his sexuality on the football field. A repressed young woman finds liberation in her roommate's bizarre secret.

Many of these stories involve animals and what they mean to us, or babies and whether to have them; some reimagine biblical plots in modern contexts. With characters old, young, straight, gay, and simply confused, Donoghue dazzles with her range and her ability to touch lightly but penetrate deeply into the human condition.

From the Back Cover

"Touchy Subjects is lucid, concise, clever and poignant. Roaming the globe, from many walks of life, bearing their painful and wonderful aspects alike, Donoghue's characters will remind readers of themselves in the here and now." The Miami Herald

In this sparkling collection of nineteen stories, the bestselling author of Slammerkin returns to contemporary affairs, dramatizing the private dilemmas that result from some of our most public controversies. A man finds God and finally wants to father a child only his wife is now forty-two years old. A coach s son discovers his sexuality on the football field. A roommate s bizarre secret awakens a repressed young woman. With characters old, young, straight, gay, and simply confused, Donoghue dazzles with her range and her ability to touch lightly but delve deeply into the human condition.

"In her new story collection, Slammerkin author Emma Donoghue raises an impressive array of Touchy Subjects, delving into what it means to be human." Elle

"Contain[s] plenty of well-crafted human observation." Entertainment Weekly

EMMA DONOGHUE is an Irish novelist, playwright, and historian. She is the author of four novels, two collections of short stories, and a collection of fairy tales. She lives in London, Ontario. "

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR EMMA DONOGHUE

"Every now and again, a writer comes along with a fully loaded brain and a nature so fanciful that she simply must spin out truly original and transporting stuff. To get lost in a book by one of these rare folks is to experience true happiness-and genuine relief that we can access such eccentric, untethered genius on a page, instead of, say, in person across the breakfast table. Emma Donoghue is such a writer."

-THE SEATTLE TIMES