Ox-Tales: Earth

The contributing authors to this Oxfam anthology of short stories seem to have uniformly interpreted its theme, earth, as death Ashes to ashes, dust to dust , I suppose, but still it s a striking kind of narrowness of interpretation for a project that seeks to raise money for Oxfam s aid work as it relates to agricultural development The other anthologies in this quartet are water, which is self explanatory in the aid context fire, assisting in conflict zones and wind, tackling the effects of cl [...]

I really enjoyed these short stories there are some gems in here that really make me want to read in this genre Nicholas Shakespeare and Marina Lewycka s tales were particular highlights while a few of the others seemed to end a little weakly it s a tough genre I suspect It s a sampling of some contemporary greats too, which serves as a useful introduction but if there s any criticism is that there are no strong overarching theme Death perhaps earth to earth I ve not read any of the other colle [...]

I liked the IDEA of the book But not the stories Even though it s a compilation of short stories by different authors, they all lack a descriptive element that gets me lost with every story especially gender wise than once I ve had to completely readjust the story in my head because halfway through it s revealed that for example the protagonist is a man, not a woman Which completely killed it for me Also, a few of the stories were just plain boring I didn t enjoy this at all

From Russia in the early 1900s to modern day Africa, this beautifully presented collection of original short stories captures both the heart and mind, compelling its readers to find another 5 with which to buy Ox Tales Air.

Earth is part of a series of four books of short story collections, dealing with the themes of Oxfam s aid projects around the world the focus for Earth being agricultural development This review will make a note on every story on its own, and not focus on Oxfam s great work Therefore, potential criticism also deals only with the story in question, not with anything else Just to make sure no one gets hurt or angry Earth by Vikram SethNo review for this poem, because I am in love with Vikram Seth [...]

A lovely little collection but some great short story writers including Tremain and Coe

The tales were okay Nothing too special.

Ox Tales Earth is part of a series of money raising books by Oxfam, filled with short stories from well known authors The others in the series are Fire which I have read , Water, and Air Each is supposed to focus on a different area of Oxfam s work Earth being Agricultural Development The stories included The Jester of Astapovo by Rose TremainThe Nettle Pit by Jonathan CoeBoys in Cars by Marti LeimbackLucky We Live Now by Kate AtkinsonFieldwork by Ian RankinThe Importance of Warm Feet by Marina [...]

The Jester of AstapovoI had trouble getting into this, but when it got going I really enjoyed it Nice writing style 3 5The Nettle PitI thought this one was both funny and quite heart wrenching I particularly loved the competition between Max Chris My favourite bit though, Daddy, why is the grass green and the answer Well, every night the fairies come out with their paint pots and paint it green 4 5Boys in CarsI really liked this one It was both interesting and poignant I loved it, actually I tho [...]

This was a superior offering to Ox Tales Air by some way, really hit the spot As one would hope of course with a stellar line up of authors Not one of the pieces fell flat and than one moved me to tears.A great little Rebus tale in 202 words from Ian Rankin.Rose Tremain s story of the death of Tolstoy as seen from the life and loves of a Russian stationmasterJonathan Coe s story which could have been oh so dull middle class witterings but for the final heartbreaking conclusionMarina Lewyka s gr [...]

An excellent collection of eight short stories and one extract from a novel in progress by British authors As you would expect from an accomplished short story writer, Rose Tremain s The Jester of Astapovo captures a historical moment with vividness and immediacy Marina Lewycka s The Importance of Warm Feet is also memorable, especially as I had previously only read her novels.But for me the bonus of this collection was Jonathan Buckley s Telescope , which is the extract from a novel in progress [...]

Nice little short story collection, subtitled Original stories from remarkable writers This is the first in a series of four books published in support of Oxfam all royalties go to them The series is themed on the four elements Earth, Air, Fire and Water On the basis of this first volume, I think I will be seeking out the other three The stories are of a consistenty high standard and there s the pleasure of the variety of strong styles and voices each volume has at least 2 or 3 very big names ev [...]

The first of four original collections, featuring stories by leading British and Irish based writers Each of the writers has contributed their story for free in orfder to raise money and awareness for Oxfam The four elements provide a loose framework for the stories and highlight key areas of Oxfam s work For this one Earth the focus is agricultural development.The contributors in this volume are Rose TremainJonathan CoeMarti LeimbachKate AtkinsonIan RankinMarina LewyckaHanif KureishiJonathan Bu [...]

Found this book along with it s 3 companion volumes in that great indie bookstore, Book Revue in Huntington, NY bookrevue Great collection of stories although I wasn t too clear as to how some of them were tied to the theme of the earth Anyway, the proceeds from the sale of these books were supposed to go to Oxfam but considering I bought them on remainder, the only organization benefiting from their sale would be Book Revue which isn t so bad a thing either I m sure that the best way to contrib [...]

Another great book from the Oxfam series This is a slender volume of short stories by established authors including Rose Tremaine and Ian Rankin The latter s contribution was a bit cheeky as he used a 200 word story that he had first written for a festival at Hay on Wye This was made up for by longer stories written by other authors and written especially for this publication I think my favourite story in this collection was Marat by Nick Shakespeare, in which the infamous French Revolutionary i [...]

I think I like the design of this short story collection better than anything else about it, even the Kate Atkinson story which was good but not close to her best The tales themselves were a mixture, some good, some bad, with no real standouts I still want the other books in this series, though THEY ARE JUST SO PRETTY.

Good little selection, with subtle relevance to the theme A nice way to dip into short fiction by people I haven t read before, as well as those I have.I particular enjoyed the Coe and Leimbach pieces, but my favourite was the Kate Atkinson, I thought I had her measure but she really surprised me with this and I loved it

I happened upon this story collection by accident It s one of four written to benefit Oxfam Earth has stories by Jonathan Coe, Kate Atkinson, Ian Rankin, and Marina Lewycka, among others Recommended.

Interesting collection of short stories or extracts from WiP s some from writers I know and love Kate Atkinson, Rose Tremain and a good introduction to others I have heard of but not yet got around to reading.

Collection of short stories by good authors I ve heard it said that writing short stories requires skill than lengthy novels I certainly enjoyed these than some novels I have read Great summer reading.

My favourite story was Boys in Cars by Martin Leimbach it had a really lovely insight and feel to it and I loved both characters Ian Rankin s 200 word story was also pretty impressive and funny A nice chance to find new writers.

I really like short stories and this is a good collection for Oxfam, I definitely want to read the rest of the series too.

To be fair, I m not really a fan of short stories these are a good example of why of the time I didn t know what the hell was going on

Quality was a bit mixed but there are some great stories in here particularly those by Kate Atkinson and Rose Tremain.

Good little collection of short stories that was written in support of Oxfam There was the odd duff one, but I did like Fieldwork by Ian Rankin and Telescope by Jonathan Buckley

Some good stories very pocketable