Ways of Telling – Signed Copy

‘The settings of these pieces are hugely varied but Bingley brings a penetrating eye and sharp wit to their many different milieus . . . As well as being inventively and compellingly written, the book is often darkly funny . . . Marvellous.’

‘The standout story in this collection is “Princess Diana's Funeral”. . . Bingley's jumble of chatty voices, seemingly concerned only with atomised trivia and superficiality, combine to create a profound sense of community and remembrance. Bingley is at her best in this collection when she is able to locate something transcendent in the flotsam and jetsam of ordinary lives.’

‘With an evident love for language and the subtle textures of daily life, Bingley provides a dazzling trip inside her mind that rewards close attention. It’s a gem.’

‘The pieces in this book are just the right size to blow one’s mind in a train or on a tram: they have a most unusual delicacy, wit and freshness, and their physical world is powerfully seductive.’

‘Fractured, haunting, intimate and totally original, Ways of Telling knocked the breath out of me. It’s dangerously exact, wilfully ambitious, wild in its scope and perfect in its precision.’ 

‘An extraordinary book. Xandra Bingley's darting, curious eyes miss nothing and we follow them with her at a headlong speed. I wish I could write like that.’

‘I couldn’t love it more. After the very first story I had a huge wide grin on my face. More more more! Every single story could be an award-winning short film. I love, love, love it.’

‘A sharp, wise and knowing eye, combined with a rare delicacy of prose — this is unlike anything else you will have read. An absolute treat.’

‘Xandra Bingley is a perfect electrometer, bending, protruding and drawing in what she sees, hears and remembers: these stories are sound archives, snap shots and spots of time. I love their generosity of soul and the timbre of the narrative voice. Reading Xandra is as mesmeric as being read to.’