The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories
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Table of Contents

The Shingle Bar Sea Monster 7; Anaesthesia 15; The Angels 24; The Head 35; Cognition 41; Count Homogenised 51; Creationism 57; Desert Life 61; Ghosts 72; Going First 79; Lady Bluebeard 85; Ladies and Gentlemen 90; Braille 105; Memory 111; Mike 121; Dummies 128; The Faker 137; The Latest Lighthouse Keeper 149; The Levitator 160; The Rewind Button 169; Twins 173; Sprout 178; Early Responses to 'The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories' 190

About the Author

Laura Solomon was Joint-Winner of the inaugural Proverse Prize (2009) with her novella, Instant Messages, subsequently published by Proverse Hong Kong in 2010. Born in New Zealand, she spent nine years in London before returning to New Zealand in 2007. She has an honours degree in English Literature (Victoria University, 1997) and a Masters degree in Computer Science (University of London, 2003). She has published two novels in New Zealand, Black Light (1996) and Nothing Lasting (1997). Her short story collection Alternative Medicine was published in the UK in 2008. Her plays have been produced at the Wellington (New Zealand) Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (UK). Among other writing prizes, she has twice won a prize in the Bridport (UK) International Short Story Competition. Her short story, "Sprout", first published in the 2004 Bridport Anthology, and later in her short story collection, Alternative Medicine, with Flame Books in the UK, was translated into Czech by Olga Wallo and appeared in krasna in the Czech Republic in 2011. See also An Imitation of Life, Hilary and David, In Vitro, The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories, and Vera Magpie.

Reviews

"Laura Solomon's stories inhabit the borders between the mundane and the magical. Whether looking for love, or trying to understand a sibling, these stories have a very human heart. Solomon's characters are often looking for answers, and in the process of dealing with their dramas and disappointments they come across those things that can only be glimpsed from the corner of the eye. Sea monsters and angels, head grafts and werewolves, roses blooming from the tip of a blind man's cane.... The fantastic exists, though the miracle can fade with a wrong decision, or an unkind choice. These stories do not provide easy answers: the fantastic does not compensate for foolishness, and there are not always easy explanations. You may be touched by the marvelous, Solomon seems to say, but what happens next is entirely up to you." - Viki Holmes, Author of miss moon's class (Chameleon, 2008), co-editor of Not A Muse (Haven 2009), in "Early Response to "The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories". "I first came across this writer in 1996 when I reviewed her first novel Black Light. She was only twenty-one years old at the time. Even at her tender age, Solomon was able to deconstruct the boundaries between art and life, tragedy and humour, producing a sophisticated challenge to the more conservative writers amongst us. Solomon produced another novel in 1997. This book, Nothing Lasting, was about a psychopath who created mayhem wherever he went. I read this novel as an allegory of social breakdown and noted that without the redemptive literary skills of Solomon, the book would be almost too painful to bear. You may wonder why I am bringing these early novels into this review. I am doing this quite deliberately. A novel can survive with just one character. Not so with a collection of short stories. They are sometimes difficult to grasp, given the multiple characters and plots that crowd around calling out, pick me, pick me! I wanted to find out if Solomon could manage this motley queue and in so doing, tease out the dominant themes of this eclectic collection. Solomon presents each story to us in various ways, some mythological, some scientific, some within the comfort of social realism. Each story presents itself with some form of bodily trauma as the metaphoric centre of the work. Her characters are constantly seeking a meaningful life. This collection is one to savour, to read and re-read. Solomon writes with passion and is totally dedicated to her art. Sometimes she wins and sometimes she loses, but she is never afraid to let language off the hook to see where it will lead her next." - Beryl Fletcher, in "Early Response to "The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories". Beryl Fletcher is winner of a Commonwealth Writers' Prize (1992) for Best First Book in South East Asia and the Pacific with her novel The Word Burners. Four of her books have been translated into German and Korean. "Witty, clear-edged, both lemon-sharp and seductive, Laura Solomon is a writer to watch." -- Maggie Gee, when Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, United Kingdom.

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