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Re-jacketed in stunning new series style, this is the first book from Booker prize-winning, Sunday Times bestselling Ian McEwan.

Taut, brooding and densely atmospheric, these stories show us the ways in which murder can arise out of boredom, perversity can result from adolescent curiosity, and sheer evil might be the solution to unbearable loneliness.

Ian McEwan Ian McEwan

Reviews

“ Marks the debut of a talented and genuinely imaginative writer ”

Julian Barnes, New Statesman

“ Now 40 years since first publication, McEwan's first published work is still his most hauntingly dark and atmospheric. ”

Esquire

“ As promising a first collection of stories as I have ever come across ”

Vogue

“ Ian McEwan writes to shock and succeeds... It is a tour-de-force of concision, and funny, too, in a deadpan manner ”

Gabriele Annan, Times Literary Supplement

“ A writer of uncanny power ”

Time

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Formats & editions

  • Paperback

    9781784703608

    December 3, 2018

    Vintage

    208 pages

    RRP $19.99

    Online retailers

    • Amazon
    • Angus & Robertson Bookworld
    • Booktopia
    • Dymocks
    • Abbey's Bookshop
    • Boomerang Books
    • Collins Booksellers
    • Books Kinokuniya
    • QBD
    • Readings
    • Robinsons Bookshop
    • The Nile
    Or

    Find your local bookstore at booksellers.org.au

  • Paperback

    9780099754817

    November 2, 2015

    Vintage

    208 pages

    RRP $19.99

    Online retailers

    • Amazon
    • Angus & Robertson Bookworld
    • Booktopia
    • Dymocks
    • Abbey's Bookshop
    • Boomerang Books
    • Collins Booksellers
    • Books Kinokuniya
    • QBD
    • Readings
    • Robinsons Bookshop
    • The Nile
    Or

    Find your local bookstore at booksellers.org.au

  • EBook

    9781409089926

    July 1, 2010

    Vintage Digital

    208 pages

    Online retailers

    • Amazon Kindle AU
    • iBooks
    • Google Play EBook AU
    • Kobo Ebook
    • Booktopia
    • eBooks

Also by Ian McEwan

Machines Like Me
Atonement
Science
My Purple Scented Novel
Nutshell
The Children Act
Sweet Tooth
Solar
For You
On Chesil Beach
Saturday
Rose Blanche
Amsterdam
Black Dogs
The Innocent
Enduring Love
The Child In Time
In Between the Sheets
The Comfort of Strangers
The Cement Garden
The Daydreamer
See all

Recommendations

To Kill A Mockingbird
The Handmaid's Tale
Norwegian Wood
A Gentleman in Moscow
Echo Burning
Case Histories
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Girl on the Train
Dragonfly In Amber
Atonement
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Stone Country
Pride And Prejudice
The Light Between Oceans
Breath
Ready Player One
The Trip of a Lifetime
Animal Farm
Sanctuary