Kirsty Gunn
Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn is the inaugural title in a new series of short story collections from Landfall Tauraka and Otago University Press, celebrating the art of short fiction in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In Pretty Ugly, Kirsty Gunn reminds us that ambiguity and complication are elemental forces in a human life, and grist to the storyteller’s mill. These 13 darkly compelling stories, set in New Zealand and in the UK, are testament to Gunn’s unrivalled ability to look directly into the troubled human heart and draw out what dwells there. The ‘ugly’ of these stories, she writes, is to do with ‘considering how much a person’s life can bear’.
Longings, compulsions, jealousies, dreams; ambitions realised, desires denied: Gunn’s steady, clear-eyed gaze unsettles complacencies, reveals duplicities, and gathers us all into the fold. She brings unease and compassion for the human condition in equal measure to the page. Each of these stories is an exquisite, thorn-sharp bouquet.
'I am fully in love with Kirsty Gunn’s stories. They hit the heart of life so truly it makes me quiver.’ —Jane Campion
‘What sets Gunn apart is her profound ability to anatomise the complexities of appearances, the dissonance between what is seen and what is felt. She thrills and unsettles in equal measure in this darkly glittering collection. Pretty spectacular.’ – Catherine Chidgey
Author
Kirsty Gunn is an internationally published novelist and short story writer whose recent work has appeared in Landfall 244, The New Zealand Listener and Newsroom. She has received multiple prizes and awards, including Book of the Year at the 2013 New Zealand Post Awards for her novel The Big Music (Faber, 2012) and her fiction is widely anthologised, broadcast and adapted into film, theatre and a range of media.
Publication details
Paperback
Fiction, Short Stories
210x148mm
ISBN 9781990048890
RRP $35
Release date: 17 October 2024
Reviews and Interviews
New Zealand Listener 100 best books of 2024 Read
Interview: 'Each story is like adoor opening up into a world that I think makes the reader feel unsettled but also excited in a really important, imaginative way.' – Kirsty Gunn speaks to Susie Ferguson on Saturday Morning, RNZ Listen
Review: 'This short story collection could be a touchstone for the times ... This is a book of juxtapositions, stylistic experimentation, cross-genres. Perhaps hinted at by the beautiful oxymoron of a title, a romance character goes meta, realism becomes thriller-esque, historical morphs into experimental. Gunn’s remarkable achievement here is that these 13 stories coexist and speak to each other across traditional divides – something we need to be aware of more than ever these days.' – Anne Kennedy for the New Zealand Listener (Volume 293, November 2–8) Read
Review: 'Gunn’s collection is an invitation to sit with discomfort, to resist easy answers, and to engage deeply with the complexities of the human condition. Pretty Ugly is not merely a collection of stories; it is a profound exploration of what it means to live authentically in a world fraught with contradictions. For those willing to embrace its challenges, the reward is an unforgettable literary experience that lingers long after the final page.' – Chris Reed for NZ Booklovers Read
Interview: 'I am aware that the title of these stories juggles a massive contradiction in the reader’s mind – and that area of contradiction is exactly what I am interested in. The world is a beautiful place full of horrifying things happening in it.' – Kirsty Gunn speaks to André Chumko for The Post Read
Review: 'This is the gift, the exquisite horror of Gunn’s collection: awful stories about people and circumstances you’ll relate to and be repulsed by. These are tales that will make your heart race as you try to make sense of what you’ve encountered, and for a long time after reading, keep you wondering about where you stand.' – Nat Baker reviews Pretty Ugly for Kete Books Read
Review: ‘All these stories are about truth; how to find the truth and how driven we are by pretense and how much of our lives are lived not so much as what they truly are but as what we want them to appear to be ... They are unsettling and there is a darkness to each of these stories but they are very very beautiful and I really enjoyed reading this book ... It was a ride’ – Cynthia Morahan for Nine to Noon, RNZ Listen