couldn't resist this - it is packaged like a packet of fags (cigarettes, US people) and when you take the book out it has filter tips etc. Take that, Kindle! ..Ok, a bit of a gimmick, but this bloke can write. All the stories feature smoking - the last one is about Raymond Carver's final cigarette. That's one of the weaker ones (I felt) but there are four or five very fine pieces here, I was taken with them. I started with the shortest 'What's in Swindon?' (that's already funny to Englis...

the stories are all unrelated to one another in everything except that they all, at one point or another, contain a cigarette - and i find that such an interesting perspective from which to spur a collection. the level of detail in formatting is commendable, and 10/10 packaging.

I received this book this morning and have just finished it, spending all day reading (something I haven't done in about 10 years). What a great collection this is. Evers obviously understands the short story form extremely well and the result is a set of stories that sit in the same bracket as the likes of Raymond Carver, Richard Yates, Denis Johnson, Sam Shepard etc.I have to admit, as a divorced thirty something with a lingering smoking habit and an interest in quality contemporary literature...

I must declare an interest here - the only reason I picked up this book in the first place is because the author is a friend of my cousin. It was particularly nice to read the acknowledgements at the back and see my cousin's name (plus my former boss, but we won't mention that!)Having said that, I felt that the short stories within this book were well-written and enthralling. Evers tried several different styles of writing, most notably playing with the person-narrative - in one case using the 2...

Hoewel het korte verhaal niet mijn genre is en dit dan ook zelden lees, werd ik verlokt door een lovende recensie, nu zo'n jaar terug. Daar kwam bij dat de boektitel me zeker ook aansprak. Want, wat heeft deze Stuart Evers over sigaretten te melden? Wel, er wordt overal terloops gepaft, en er wordt niet moeilijk over gedaan. De verhalen verrasten me door de kracht ervan. Stuart weet in een paar pennenstreken een sfeer neer te zetten. Buitengewoon knap hoe weinig woorden hij nodig heeft om mij al...

I bought this book mostly because of the flap-top cigarette style case that it comes in and a sincere hope that the writing would be good. Happily, I was not disappointed. The stories in here can be bleak but don't let that put you off: they are also very enjoyable and very human.

I’m not a huge short story fan, to be honest. Or, to be more honest, I’m not a huge fan of single-author collections of short stories. I know they tend not to do very well – it’s the perennial cry of the sales rep, “I know they’re difficult to sell, but this collection will be different” – but that isn’t my problem with them. My problem is, I think, that the stories blur into each other. No matter how good the author is, no matter how skilled they are at writing in different voices, my brain is

The quote on the front cover says, "staggeringly impressive". I have to disagree.Of the ten, I only really liked one - 'Things seem so far away, here' was a moving picture of misunderstanding. The rest were flawed, dotted with inconsistencies, and just missing the mark for me.

I read a short story in this collection from another collection (Best British Short Stories 2014) and liked it so much I ordered this book. Of the first 5, two were 3.5 which is pretty good in my book (so to speak), but the others were 2.5s. It went downhill from there. I wrote down a quote and it’s not the first time I am using it in one of my reviews from another GR reviewer because it rang true to me, and signals a book or story that I would not like: "It pulls me out of the narrative to hear...

If I could give this collection of 10 short stories more than 5 stars I would! They were all super! So well written - very Raymond Carver’esque’ - who is one of my all time favorites and therefore this book was a sure win for me! Brilliant stories that each capture the human condition in their own unique way.I can’t wait to read more by this author!

The saying goes that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but it would seem wrong not to mention the design of Ten Stories About Smoking, which comes in a flip-top box that looks like a cigarette packet, with the cover of the volume itself as the ‘cigarettes’. It’s a brilliant piece of work that really enhances the reading experience, and I take my hat off to the designers, Two Associates.Of course, as good as the design may be, what counts the most is the quality of the stories; I’m pleased...

After looking into the BBC Short story award articles, I have discovered a whole host of short story writers that I was previously unaware of. Seeing as I am writing and reading again I've made it a mission to try and read many of them. Stuart Evers was one of the authors mentioned. The rest are all on my Amazon wish list! :)However, whilst most of the stories are well crafted, there was only one stand out story for me. The second one, 'Things Seem So Far Away Here'. I did really also enjoy two

On the back cover it says that Alice Munro echoes throughout (I couldn't see it) and that the stories contain "Writing sequined with sparkling descriptions" and are "Brilliantly restrained". They "find dignity in quiet lives and beauty in dark corners". The main character is usually much the most thoughtful and literate one in each story. There are many break-ups and house-movings. There's excellent use of smoking.In "Some Great Project" a newly orphaned man finds comfort in organising family ph...

Ten Stories about Smoking by Stuart EversI was sent a paperback (unboxed) copy of this to review.I approached this set of short stories with a little trepidation. As an ex-smoker I didn't want the romanticism of smoking (and it does have a romantic element – think of film noir) to pull me back to its nicotine heart. I needn't have worried. Although each of the ten stories involve smoking, in only a couple of them is smoking a central theme. In some it seems entirely redundant or is relegated to

2 and a half stars really. Nothing special.

A book club read. I dreaded reading it, I read it. It's done. One story was particularly distressing so I skimmed it: Real Work. Otherwise, felt like I'd been dipped in a well used ashtray.

I found each of these ten stories utterly addictive and they left me wanting to know more each time. The characterisation was tight and the ideas refreshing. The situations felt real (even when they were a tad surreal). This was a great introduction to a new author for me. I have heard Evers chair a panel at a literary festival but have never given much thought to him as an author until now.

I liked it, but it's certainly not my favourite collection of short stories. I enjopyed some a lot more than others.

As with most anthologies, some stories appealed to me more than others. There's perfectly competent stuff here that's perfectly competent but wouldn't be out of place in the Guardian magazine's annual short fiction issue. But then there are also sinister stories - I'm thinking especially of 'Real Work' - which remind me of Toby Litt at his best, and grab at you like the Ancient Mariner.

Short stories are not my favourite form of reading, but I'd heard lots about this collection and wanted to give it a go. The packaging on it's own makes the book stand out from the shelves and is very clever of the publisher. It's marketed in a cardboard carton that looks like a packet of cigarettes, the book is inside and extracted, just like a cig!There is an air of darkness about all of these stories, with the theme of cigarette smoking running through them - the story of a bride-to-be who hu...