We're Flying - Tapa dura

Here is a double treat for aficionados of Peter Stamm's small canvases of precision as he maps the imprecision of human emotion. Two collections of short stories are published together in Michael Hofmann's taut translations. Stamm's mood pictures capture, claustrophobically, his characters' internal worlds, and his commitment to "making literature out of ordinary people's lives" ... Notable also are musings on creating art: in "Go Out into the Fields", the artist explains, "You work out of a passionate indifference... You try to capture... the inexact feeling, as exactly as you can." Therein lies Stamm's mastery in these uncomfortable, truthful stories: paradoxically, a pleasure to read. --Independent

Perceptive, compelling ... Peter Stamm's ability to explore dark secrets and lead them towards the light of reason may be cool, even clinical, but it is never completely heartless and is always unforgettable --Irish Times

Seven Years is a shocking and compelling book. ... Peter Stamm's ability to explore dark secrets and lead them towards the light of reason may be cool, even clinical, but it is never completely heartless and is always unforgettable --Irish Times

Stamm yet again demonstrates his mercilessly astute eye for the shortcomings of human nature. --'Fiction of the Year', Irish Times

The stories here possess all the qualities that have built Peter Stamm's reputation as one of the very finest European writers alive today - the undemonstrative prose, the deceptive simplicity of the storylines, and the calm, clear understanding of psychology and the emotions. In 'Expectations', we meet a woman who becomes involved with her younger upstairs neighbour; in 'The Result', a man waiting for the outcome of medical tests; and in 'Sweet Dreams', a young couple learning to navigate the thrills and complications of cohabitation. A master of the short story, Stamm does not spare the reader's feelings - and nor does he waste a word.