Review: Well-Crafted Short Story Volume Shines With Grit and Wit
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 9, 2012
I first met Nigel Bird through participating in his fun interview weblog, DANCING WITH MYSELF. I've been keeping a stack of ebooks, his accomplished short story collection DIRTY OLD TOWN (AND OTHER STORIES) included, until I finally got my Kindle. So I've been playing catch up. My favorite story here is the title one set in a gym with the boys training for Olympic gymnastic competition. Their coach Chalky Fish takes fierce umbrage at a local dope dealer for selling the boys performance enhancement drugs, the gold brand being the slickest one. "Three Little Birds" is a tale narrated by Shrek Harper, another harassed person who has finally had it. "Sea Minor" employs a sensitive child narrator off to visit his "Gran" on the island of Skye. Dark humor is found in "Merry Christmas" where the father and son thieves pull off an interesting heist. The stories are previously published ones, and it's nice to read them all assembled into a single ebook. Bravo!