A Minimum of Two - Softcover

Winton, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014010268X ISBN 13: 9780140102680

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1989

Synopsis

'These stories are a wonderful introduction to his quirky fictional world gutsy, funny, lyrical but unpretentious Independent Tim Winton's second short-story collection explores the complexity of human relationships through the themes of futility and hope, revenge and redemption, birth and death that twist through each tale in turn, emerging, re-emerging, competing, conflicting. As characters, too, surface and reappear, their lives are slowly, painstakingly revealed. Through frozen moments and stolen glances, their stories and histories are told, their emotions exposed, their souls stripped bare. Threaded together by Tim Winton's haunting prose, the tales in Minimum of Two ultimately offer an optimistic view of the world in which we live. 'Winton ...writes with a muscular looseness which is suited perfectly to the people and places he is describing' The Times 'Tim Winton has cracked something essential about modern Australia: how to find meaning in the intimate and terrible parts of contemporary family life, set against a landscape which is inhumanly vast' Evening Standard 'The vividness and clarity that Mr Winton responds to in nature are also beautifully embodied in his own writing' The Economist

About this title

About the Author

Tim Winton was born in Perth in 1960 and has written novels, collections of stories, non-fiction and books for children. He has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, for The Riders (1995) and Dirt Music (2002).

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning with his first novel, published when he was 21, the Australian author's works have all earned prizes; so too has this memorable collection of 14 stories, which won the Miles Franklin Award. The most intimate and sensitive of the tales center on incidents affecting a young family: Jerra and Rachel Nilsam and their baby Sam. Working their way through crises that imperil their marriage, the prickly couple makes its survival extremely important to the reader. The relationship is particularly at risk in "Gravity," when Jerra takes the little boy on an outing and they return late for a big party where dear friends are gathered. Rachel is cool in her anger; the guests transparently hide their hurt and Jerra can't force himself to "smooth things over." His thoughts are on his father, recently dead, and he realizes the impossibility of explaining the loss. Jerra's loneliness and questions about life end in an ineffably sweet moment that proves love endures and needs no explanation. All the selections are strong and beautifully written, but those about the Nilsams stay longest in one's memory.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 014010268X
• ISBN 13: 9780140102680
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160