Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good

<strong>A Granta Best Young British Novelist</strong>

<strong>'A thrilling love for the stuff of language ... Magical' </strong>JON McGREGOR

<strong>'Poignant and playful'</strong> <em>DAILY MAIL </em>

<strong>'A writer with few real rivals'</strong> <em>IRISH TIMES</em>

<strong>'A visionary writer' </strong>JAN CARSON

<strong>The stunning new collection of stories from the award-winning author of <em>The Liar's Dictionary</em> and <em>Attrib. and Other Stories.</em></strong>

<em>Granta</em> Best Young British novelist and acclaimed author of <em>Attrib. and other stories</em>, Eley Williams returns with a thrilling collection of short stories exploring the nature of relationships both intimate and transient - from the easy gamesmanship of contagious yawns to the horror of a smile fixed for just a second too long.

A courtroom sketch artist delights in committing portraits of their lover to paper but their need to capture likenesses forever is revealed to have darker, more complex intentions. A child's schoolyard crush on a saint marks a confrontation with the reality of a teenage body in flux. Elsewhere, an editor of canned laughter loses their confidence and seeks divine intervention, and an essayist annotates their thoughts on Keats by way of internet-gleaned sex tips.

<em>Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good </em>hums with fossicking language and ingenious experiments in form and considers notions of playfulness, authenticity and care as it holds relationships to account: their sweet misunderstandings, soured reflections, queer wish fulfilments and shared, held breaths.

<strong>'Undeniably a skilful book'</strong> <em>TELEGRAPH</em>

<strong>'Stories that work from the inside out... glancing,</strong> <strong>intriguing'</strong> <em>GUARDIAN</em>

<strong>'Erudite and audacious' </strong>KEIRAN GODDARD

<strong><em>'</em>Frequently brilliant and deeply pleasurable'</strong> CAOILINN HUGHES

<strong>'I don't know anyone else who can write like this ... What a joy!'</strong> BEN PESTER

<strong>'A joy for the head and the heart'</strong> RUBY COWLING