About the Author

Matthew Kneale is the author of serveral novels, including English Passengers, which won the Whitbread Book of the Year 2000 award and was short-listed for the Booker Prize. He lives in Rome, Italy.

Reviews

"Electrifies. . . . A firecracker in broad daylight, an out-of-nowhere bombshell sure to throw some sparks in the literary world. . . . Kneale's characters are wholly believable, his plots flawless. . . . [He is an] extraordinary author." —The San Diego Union-Tribune

"Pitch-perfect. . . . Moves and transforms with a satisfying snap." —New York Post

"Powerful. . . . Instantly engaging. . . . An irresistible literary feast." —Time Out (London)

"Matthew Kneale has mastered [the] genre. . . . [He] has captured . . . the complexity of the world and the ways that people cope, or not, showcasing situations of moral ambiguity where roads not taken make all the difference." —The Seattle Times

"Brilliant. . . . Well-crafted. . . . Perfect little tales, replete with short and witty denouements. . . . Every one of these 'crimes' is a page-turner." —New Statesman

“English Passengers is what fiction ought to be: ambitious, narrative-driven, with a story and a quest we don’t mind going on. On page after page I found myself laughing or nodding or simply envious.
I was compelled from first to last and beyond. The characters are still living with me.”
—Nicholas Shakespeare, author of Bruce Chatwin: A Biography

“A robust intellectual entertainment: a comic sea-adventure, survival tale and quest for the Garden of Eden all rolled into one.”
—The Globe and Mail

“Every page fizzes with linguistic invention, and the interweaving of high comedy with dramatic terror is expertly handled.”
—The Guardian

“Sometimes a book comes along so full of wit and charm that it makes you glad you learned to read.”
—Houston Chronicle

The 2000 Whitbread winner Kneale (English Passengers) offers 12 ironic stories in which ordinary people act on unexpected chances that first yield ample benefit, then disaster-and then a kind of calm resolution. For example, in "Powder," Peter, a muddling, unremarkable, middle-aged lawyer, comes upon a large bag of cocaine. Soon he and his wife are dealing and buying cars, but when their children find out, the family disintegrates, and eventually the police show up, followed by the media. From prison, Peter meanwhile feels pretty good, because now he "is" somebody, a celebrity even. The stories, which are set all over the world, are well wrought and intriguing, but there's a sameness to them. Like an old Moody Blues LP, the first impression is of a bright ray of illumination, but, with later reflection, the picture fades. For large and international fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/04.]-Robert E. Brown, Minoa Lib., NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

"Electrifies. . . . A firecracker in broad daylight, an out-of-nowhere bombshell sure to throw some sparks in the literary world. . . . Kneale's characters are wholly believable, his plots flawless. . . . [He is an] extraordinary author." -The San Diego Union-Tribune

"Pitch-perfect. . . . Moves and transforms with a satisfying snap." -New York Post

"Powerful. . . . Instantly engaging. . . . An irresistible literary feast." -Time Out (London)

"Matthew Kneale has mastered [the] genre. . . . [He] has captured . . . the complexity of the world and the ways that people cope, or not, showcasing situations of moral ambiguity where roads not taken make all the difference." -The Seattle Times

"Brilliant. . . . Well-crafted. . . . Perfect little tales, replete with short and witty denouements. . . . Every one of these 'crimes' is a page-turner." -New Statesman

"English Passengers is what fiction ought to be: ambitious, narrative-driven, with a story and a quest we don't mind going on. On page after page I found myself laughing or nodding or simply envious.
I was compelled from first to last and beyond. The characters are still living with me."
-Nicholas Shakespeare, author of Bruce Chatwin: A Biography

"A robust intellectual entertainment: a comic sea-adventure, survival tale and quest for the Garden of Eden all rolled into one."
-The Globe and Mail

"Every page fizzes with linguistic invention, and the interweaving of high comedy with dramatic terror is expertly handled."
-The Guardian

"Sometimes a book comes along so full of wit and charm that it makes you glad you learned to read."
-Houston Chronicle