Pretty Ugly – Kirsty Gunn

READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS

Thirteen darkly compelling stories look directly into the troubled human heart and draw out what dwells there. The ‘ugly’ of these stories is to do with ‘considering how much a person’s life can bear’. The unease and compassion for the human condition told in intelligent prose with a strong dose of introspection.

Great fatted Chrysanthemums held by skinny stems jostled up next to double-headed tulips and phlox; massed foliage poked out above the many greasy hearts of lilies. And were those thistles? Yes. Thistles, too, and other unkind-looking items were arranged among the rest. This was a posy with no theme or unity—and was it even…fresh?

●  As the deadline of the Ockham’s draws near I haven’t quite gotten through all of these short stories, but I loved most of what I did manage to finish. One was so painful to read I felt like I was slicing into my nerves with each page and for that reason I should be grateful it was a short story.  What an extraordinary author. – Suzy

●  I enjoyed Pretty Ugly more as a work of art than a fictional reading experience. I was impressed by the intelligent prose and enjoyed the metafictional stories that reflected on the nature of storytelling and the book’s own construction. But, as I often feel with short stories, I was unable to completely let myself go and grow with the ever changing narrative like I can with a novel. – Rachel

Published 2024
Rough Trade Books
218 pages