The Ends of Our Tethers: Thirteen Sorry Stories

By Alasdair Gray

Book Overview

Since 1981, when Alasdair Gray's first novel Lanark was published by Canongate, his characters have aged as fast as their author. The Ends of Our Tethers shows the high jinks of many folk in the last stages of physical, moral and social decrepitude - a sure tonic for the young. The first work of fiction in over six years by one of Britain's most original and brilliant writers, this wonderful (and very funny) new collection reaffirms Gray's position as a master of the short story. The Ends of Our Tethers is vintage Gray - experimental, mischievous, wide-ranging but also subtly connected. And as always the work is hallmarked with his highly engaging prose style, dry wit and fecund imagination. These thirteen tales challenge prejudice, question social imbalances and explore human foibles. In 'No Bluebeard', a socially reclusive man, veteran of three marriages, meets a disturbed and eccentric woman desperate to remain hidden from her family. In 'Job's Skin Game' a father develops a skin condition in response to the emotional shock of losing his two sons in the September 11th attacks and his fortune in the dot-com crisis. The exquisite pleasure he takes from scratching and peeling his dead epidermis becomes his sole preoccupation and a metaphor for what is ultimately a wholly sane response to tragedy. 'Wellbeing' offers a politically charged dystopian vision of a future Britain as seen through the eyes of a once-revered writer, now homeless yet stubbornly refusing to move to a more hospitable country as 'there are better ways of living than being happy, but they require strength and sanity.' Beautifully produced and illustrated throughout with Gray's distinctive drawings, this is an important and highly accessible collection.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1841955337
• ISBN13: 9781841955339
• Release Date: October 2022
• Publisher: Canongate Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wickedly Good

I'm halfway through The Ends of Our Tethers and am trying to stop reading so fast. Please keep this book in stock! The stories are brilliant with hilarious endings. My favorite story so far is "Moral Philosophy Exam" which is very funny and ends with a multiple choice exam. "No Bluebeard" is the most memorable, a story about a man's four failing marriages. I can't describe in words how much I'm enjoying this book. "Job's Skin Game" had me both cringing and laughing uncontrollably. Perfect!

Troubling but mostly brilliant

This is an excellent, hilarious and often disturbing collection of short stories. My one criticism is that the penultimate story, an account of a protest against the Iraq war, is so tonally different from the other pieces that it rings false. The other stories have an almost Beckett-like abstraction and eternal quality, the penultimate story has already dated.

Bizarre, Wonderful, Visionary - A Very Fun Read

I was introduced to this work by Madison Smartt Bell when he read "15 February 2003" to a creative writing class a few years ago. I was very intrigued and bought the book shortly after. The short stories in this book are both visionary and hilarious. Gray has a beautiful ability to capture a deep sense of truth from minor details and quietly bizarre circumstances. He gets into some very deep psychological territory with stories such as "Aiblins," where the author himself meets a fictionalized version of himself as a young man, and "Job's Skin Game" where a man who is coping with eczema engages in quaint and grotesque skin peeling rituals. His stories are immediately engaging, very fun and easy to read though often presented in esoteric forms. I read Poor Things a year or so after this book and liked it FAR less. That book, although a good yarn, seemed trite next to this book. It seemed a bit gimmicky; the tricks that Gray uses throughout that book were fun but didn't leave a lasting impression. In "Ends of our Tethers" Alasdair Gray achieves a beautiful harmony between postmodern mashup of style and deep, true characters. "Sinkings" and "No Bluebeard" are stories that are presented almost as lists. The first being three brief scenarios where the narrator was emotionally damaged and insulted by the people around him, the second is a male narrator recounting the tale of his various ruined marriages, the wives referred to simply as FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD. My favorite of these stories are those that add a touch of the surreal. "Big Pockets with Buttoned Flaps" and "15 February 2003" seem to take place in a future dystopia. The narrators of these stories are filled with an existential kind of despair. I can't recommend this book enough. Sometimes visionary sometimes just interesting and enjoyable. Gray's illustrations also add to the experience of this book. The leering skulls seem both friendly and evil.