Author has an uncanny ability to register slight nuances
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CHEATING AT CANASTA
William Trevor
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN 978-0-307-39664-8
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Reviewed by Sharon Greer
A childhood cruelty that haunts and destroys a young man in Folie a Deux, a vicious beating ending in ruin for numerous people in Bravado, the destructive powers of intransigency in Faith and many more superb short stories from William Trevor's latest compilation of tales, Cheating at Canasta.
This brilliant writer has an amazing ability to convey the most simple desires or show the darkest evil imaginable. The simplicity of his prose as he describes the wretchedness of someone's life or the dull, horrific agony of loss is nothing short of ingenious.
The startling suddenness of his sentences, the deep stillness of his stories or the quiet, unassuming nature that seemingly underlies the narratives can so abruptly transform itself and strike out at the reader when you least expect it.
Trevor has such a knack for communicating his ideas in a matter of fact fashion. He is especially in his element with his sharp eye for detail and uncanny ability to register those small, slight nuances in people's relationships.
All of these attributes compound to make his writings all the more absorbing and intoxicating. William Trevor is truly a master of the short story form. I want him to live forever.
The author was born and spent his childhood in Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland. He now resides in Devon, England.
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