Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good

<p>SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE</p> <p>A Granta Best Young British Novelist</p> <p>'A thrilling love for the stuff of language ... Magical' JON McGREGOR</p> <p>'Poignant and playful' DAILY MAIL</p> <p>'A writer with few real rivals' IRISH TIMES</p> <p>'A visionary writer' JAN CARSON</p> <br> <br> <p>The stunning new collection of stories from the award-winning author of The Liar's Dictionary and Attrib. and Other Stories.</p> <p>Granta Best Young British novelist and acclaimed author of Attrib. and other stories, 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good 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.</p> <p>'Undeniably a skilful book' TELEGRAPH</p> <p>'Stories that work from the inside out... glancing, intriguing' GUARDIAN</p> <p>'Erudite and audacious' KEIRAN GODDARD</p> <p>'Frequently brilliant and deeply pleasurable' CAOILINN HUGHES</p> <p>'I don't know anyone else who can write like this ... What a joy!' BEN PESTER</p> <p>'A joy for the head and the heart' RUBY COWLING</p>