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There Are Little Kingdoms (Canons Book 60) Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 140 ratings

This award-winning story collection summons all the laughter, darkness and intensity of contemporary Irish life. A pair of fast girls court trouble as they cool their heels on a slow night in a small town. Lonesome hillwalkers take to the high reaches in pursuit of a saving embrace. A bewildered man steps off a country bus in search of his identity - and a stiff drink.

These stories, filled with a grand sense of life's absurdity, form a remarkably surefooted collection that reads like a modern-day Dubliners.

Product description

Review

"Kevin Barry is among the brightest and most delightful new voices in Irish fiction" -- Rick Moody

"Could easily have been titled
These Are Little Masterpieces", Irish Times

"The most arresting and original writer to emerge from these islands in years" -- Irvine Welsh

About the Author

Kevin Barry is the author of the novels Beatlebone, City of Bohane and Night Boat to Tangier and the story collections Dark Lies the Island and There Are Little Kingdoms. His awards include the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Goldsmiths Prize, the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize and the Lannan Foundation Literary Award. His stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta and elsewhere. He also works as a playwright and screenwriter, and he lives in County Sligo, Ireland. In 2019, Night Boat to Tangier was longlisted for the Booker Prize.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01LY3QL8P
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canongate Canons; Main - Canons edition (6 April 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6485 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 161 pages
  • Customer reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 140 ratings

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Kevin Barry
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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
140 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2018
    Nobody writes about shambolic, messy, drunken, quietly violent or desperate Irish lives like Kevin Barry. yet these stories are shot through with moments of compassion and tenderness. A brilliant writer in a league of his own. (the new yorker seems to think Kevin Barry, Colin Barrett and Tessa Hadley are some of the only UK writers- but fair enough! they are so great.)
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2020
    I've just finished reading the book of Short Stories called "There Are Little Kingdoms", by Irish writer Kevin Barry. I enjoyed nearly all of the stories, which are set in small towns/villages in Ireland, mainly around Tipperary, and tell the stories of somewhat restricted lives, and the ambitions of the young to be able to free themselves from small town life and escape into what they assume to be the glamour of the larger towns and cities. As someone brought up in a smallish town myself, I can understand the frustrations of those adults and teenagers described in the stories, though I tended to express my frustrations differently. What I couldn't understand was why the publishers included a final story, Penguins, which moved to a totally different locale- namely, the Arctic- and the action takes place on a plane which is forced to crash land on the ice. We then see the passengers and crew attempting to survive the cold whilst awaiting rescue. Although it's a well-written story, I couldn't see any connection between it and the other stories in the book, though perhaps someone more intelligent and analytical than myself could explain the rationale behind its inclusion? As it came at the end of the book, I'm assuming it was meant to provide some commentary on, or summing up of, all those that had come before. To me, it seemed rather tacked on, as if they'd asked Barry to supply a specific number of stories and, as he'd run out of ideas for different takes on small town life, he simply wrote one, or found another amongst his pile of previously written stories, which they included. Not quite on a par with the novels I've previously read this past month, but I'd still recommend it.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2019
    One of Ireland's finest writers and a wonderful collection of stories here.
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 February 2020
    Incredible writing, the book handles nice, but text is too small, for me anyway. 👍
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2019
    It went a bit diddly dee for my liking. I get that it's little kingdoms in Ireland but easy with the trowel lads. Now Dark Lies the Island, that's boy right there, so tis.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Jonathan Woods
    5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, beautifully written stories of contemporary Ireland.
    Reviewed in the United States on 7 December 2018
    Kevin Barry is a master of dark comedy and the clever sentence. Highly readable, fun and often with a twist. Highly recommended. I bought this book because I read one of Barry’s stories published in The New Yorker. Best story they published all year.
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great stories, dark and hilarious
    Reviewed in the United States on 8 April 2018
    Great stories, dark and hilarious, and beautifully written, full of metaphor, dazzling language, unsettling and sometimes surreal.
    Atlantic City and Breakfast Wine are just about perfect. The Wintersongs has moments of pure magic too.
  • Timothy E. Reidman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!
    Reviewed in the United States on 14 March 2018
    Amazing, well written short stories. The author’s tales of youth, tragedy, family and loneliness are poignant and deeply resonating. I am looking forward to more!

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