Tuesday, November 08, 2011

The Desolation Angel

When I first met the Desolation Angel he was sprawled insolently across the top of my refrigerator. He wore a black three-button single-vent suit, and smoked a long cigar, the ashes of which he tapped into his left jacket pocket. He didn’t acknowledge me until I was almost on him. Raising two red eyes in my direction, he said, ‘Don’t sweat it. I’m here to help’.
Thirteen extraordinary stories by the author of the NZ Post-shortlisted novel Their Faces Were Shining.
Here is part of Tim Wilson's acknowledgements from the book which provides an interesting provenance for the stories:
These pieces were written over a period of almost twenty years. I’m very grateful to those who published early versions, and provided real encouragement: Steve Danby from Radio New Zealand (“I Did That For You”), Metro’s Stephen Stratford (“What Would Ray Do?”), and Finlay Macdonald (“The Desolation Angel”) at the Listener. Fergus Barrowman published four of these stories in Sport (“Unforced Entry”, “The Big Overseas Experience”, “Suits”, “Private Beach Bitches”). He has been a stalwart, making wise suggestions in assembling this collection, and locating Harvey Benge’s excellent cover image. Joanna Yas and Adrian Dannatt were good enough to publish “Private Beach Bitches” in New York’s Open City. Thanks also Thanks also to Guy Somerset at the Listener (“Sell Me Your Dreams”), and Iain Sharp, Bevan Rapson (“Coming and Going”) and Simon Wilson (“The Dress Your Daddy Is Wearing”) at Metro.
About the author:
Tim Wilson is TVNZ’s US Correspondent based in New York. He has written for numerous New Zealand publications as well as the Guardian and Newsweek.com. His short fiction has appeared in Sport, Metro, the Listener and Open City (New York).
The Desolation Angel - Tim Wilson - VUP - NZ$35.00

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