The Burning Ground

(Paperback)

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A masterful debut short story collection from the award-winning, critically-acclaimed poet Adam ORiordan 'Wonderfully lyrical and bittersweet' OBSERVER 'This is a wonderful, beguiling collection of short stories. Written with a cool, knowing lyricism, they haunt and enthral' WILLIAM BOYD 'An auspicious debut, full of unforgettable lines and hard-won insights. Adam ORiordan is the real thing' HUGO WILLIAMS _________________________ In these eight stories, an English writer focuses his gaze on Americas West Coast, moving from fractured lives in remote, sun-scorched towns to the charged hum of Venice Beach. A man visits his long-distance lover in Los Angeles and forges an unexpected bond with a fellow traveller on the way; a teenager interviews a businessman for his school newspaper and their paths continue to cross, throughout life; the foreman of a desert building project embarks on a journey down the Pacific Coast Highway and into Californias underworld when his employer's daughter goes missing; a lonely widower reflects on the past and confronts a disturbing and long suppressed memory; a divorced father tries to reconnect with his son on a hunting trip; an artist finds peace in exile after the disintegration of an affair; and itinerant Brits discuss love and acting in downtown LA. Written with an outsiders keen eye, this collection of stories paints an intimate portrait of diverse lives, in a work of remarkable beauty and poignancy.

Reviews

Wonderfully lyrical and bittersweet * Observer, Fiction to Look out for in 2017 *
This is a wonderful, beguiling collection of short stories. Written with a cool, knowing lyricism, they haunt and enthral -- William Boyd
Precise and attentive. ORiordan has the painters eye for detail and the pianists touch for sounding the right notes Simon Armitage -- Simon Armitage on In the Flesh
These musical, deftly patterned poems are the products of a supple susceptibility and a determined intelligence. They make for a convincing and sustained debut -- Adam Foulds
An auspicious debut, full of unforgettable lines and hard-won insights. Adam ORiordan is the real thing -- Hugo Williams
Adam O'Riordan's poems combine verbal grace with powerful feelings and a keen intelligence that extends from the personal to the political with admirable ease Extremely impressive -- James Lasdun
Elegant, beautifully-turned poems that match an easy technique with a sophisticated intelligence -- Nick Laird
If LA really is the city with the greatest capacity for loneliness when things unravel, then Adam O'Riordan's misfits provide ideal company the next time you find yourself mooching along the boardwalk ... O'Riordan wilfully mines the less glossy side of LA, and ordinary lives gone wrong, with haunting effect * GQ *
The loneliness of the long distance traveler whispers through this impressive debut collection ... Plenty of promise * RTE Guide *

Author Bio

Adam ORiordan was born in Manchester in 1982 and read English at Oxford University. In 2008 ORiordan became the youngest Writer in Residence at The Wordsworth Trust, the Centre for British Romanticism. His first collection of poetry, In the Flesh, won a Somerset Maugham Award in 2011. He is Senior Lecturer at the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. The Burning Ground is his first collection of short stories. adamoriordan.com @oriordanadam