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Summary
From the author of the award-winning The Great Fire, an extraordinary collection of stories about life in the Organisation - a polyglot crucible in which talent rots and mediocrity thrives and the 'rights of man' are unthinkingly sacrificed on the altar of inter-departmental strife.
Description
The 'People in Glass Houses' work for an American-based concern devoted to 'inflicting improvement' the world over.
Amongst them are sloppy but erudite Algie Wyatt, Swoboda, a Slav DP, who finally rebels against a daily inflow of documentation; modest Ashmole-Brown, whose surprise best-seller unseats Sadie Graine, the all-time corridor fixer; Jaspersen, who falls in and out of love with the Organization; and Clelia Kinslake, who meets the most critical non-crisis of her career in Crete. Shirley Hazzard's eight dazzling stories are linked by a scorching contempt for the Organization.Critic Reviews
“For the Great Fire: 'A brilliant, brave and sublimely written novel ... among the most transcendent works I've ever had the pleasure of reading' Anita Shreve 'Exquisitely crafted ... the most interesting work of fiction published this year' Books of the Year, The Economist 'A profound and austerely gorgeous meditation on the fading of Empire' Books of the Year, Telegraph 'The writing is a lesson to us all' Colm Toibin, Irish Times”
"A brilliant comedy on a large and serious theme." --The Saturday Evening Post
"Places her on a high ground between Katherine Mansfield and Evelyn Waugh." --The New York Times
"It stings and alarms....Hazzard's strength lies in her coolness, her modesty, and her understatement." --The Times (London)
"The comedy, irony, and pathos generated by the conflict between bureaucratic form and human content are beautifully rendered." --Dwight Macdonald
About the Author
*The Great Fire won the Miles Franklin Award (2004) the National Book Award for fiction (2003) was shortlisted for the Orange Prize (2004) and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize (2004)
The 'People in Glass Houses' work for an American-based concern devoted to 'inflicting improvement' the world over. Amongst them are sloppy but erudite Algie Wyatt, Swoboda, a Slav DP, who finally rebels against a daily inflow of documentation; modest Ashmole-Brown, whose surprise best-seller unseats Sadie Graine, the all-time corridor fixer; Jaspersen, who falls in and out of love with the Organization; and Clelia Kinslake, who meets the most critical non-crisis of her career in Crete. Shirley Hazzard's eight dazzling stories are linked by a scorching contempt for the Organization.
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