"Shining with originality, emotion, humour and humanity, these five stories showcase the potency of short-form fiction."
Dazzlingly diverse, the five short stories included in Thomas Morris’ Open Up are united by themes of feeling dislocated in a strange, unsettling world. Each of them tingling with tenderness and truths, these stories have the power to flip your heart, make you think and make you feel more alive. In a word, Open Up is magic.
The opener, Wales, fizzes with the power of hope (and football) against a backdrop of poverty. Ahead of attending his first big match, a boy tells himself, “If Wales win tonight, everything will turn out okay.” There’s magic being among a crowd of supporters, singing as one: “WALES! WALES! He is screaming, he is letting something go.” But, while Gareth has a good feeling about the upcoming European Championship, his dad tries to teach him a life lesson: “you’re better off not expecting much, or you’ll only be disappointed.” Gareth puts Dad in his place, though, and turns out to be right, even as the rest of his life takes a downturn. Poignant stuff.
Meanwhile, Aberkariad is an utterly bizarre, unexpectedly affecting story of love, loss, coming-of-age, and the cycles and meaning of life from the perspective of a family of sea horses. Wise, witty and wildly imaginative, I loved it.
With the remaining three stories relating the cliff-hanger-tastic story of “short-arse” Big Mike, an indecisive young man haunted by his past while on holiday with his girlfriend, and a vampire forum moderator treating himself to fangs for his birthday, Open Up adds up to being an enthrallingly varied collection. Morris’ writing is sublimely fresh, and his ideas open up new ways of seeing the world.
| Primary Genre | General Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
A GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST 2023
A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
'I love this book.' BRANDON TAYLOR
'Extraordinary and original.' Sunday Times
'Brilliant, funny, unsettling.' SALLY ROONEY
'Impressive.' Irish Times
'A writer beyond compare.' ALI SMITH
'Fierce and tender.' LUCY CALDWELL
'Astounding.' COLIN BARRETT
'Worthy of multiple readings.' JON McGREGOR
The new collection from a literary star - five achingly tender, innovative and dazzling stories of (dis)connection.
From Wales to Croatia to the depths of the ocean, these five achingly tender stories of (dis)connection are bursting with emotional vulnerability. A child attends his first football match, buoyed by secret magic; a young seahorse grapples with grief and loss; a troubled young man gets his birthday teeth. Strikingly original and wincingly humane, Open Up seeks to find grace, hope and benevolence in the churning tumult of self-discovery.
Praise for We Don't Know What We're Doing:
'Heart-hurtingly acute, laugh-out-loud funny, and one of the most satisfying collections I've read for years.' ALI SMITH, Guardian 'Books of the Year'
'Masterly. . . marvellous grace and wit.' PHILIP HENSHER
'That tonic gift, the sense of truth - the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own'. The tonic comes in large doses in Thomas Morris's debut short-story collection.' Irish Times
'Morris's fresh, direct writing style feels brand new.' Metro
'Radiant' Independent
Open Up features in the following genres: General Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Shorter Reads, Fiction, Fiction: special features
Open Up is available in Paperback, Hardback
Open Up was written by Thomas Morris and published by Faber & Faber
Open Up has 224 pages
£8.99
