A Bit on the Side-轻识

William Trevor is truly a Chekhov for our age, and a new collection of stories from him is always a cause for celebration. In these twelve stories, a waiter divulges a shocking life of crime to his ex-wife; a woman repeats the story of her parentsa unstable marriage after a horrible tragedy; a schoolgirl regrets gossiping about the cuckolded man who tutors her; and, in the volumeas title story, a middle-aged accountant offers his reasons for ending a love affair. At the heart of this stunning collection is Trevoras characteristic tenderness and unflinching eye for both the humanizing and dehumanizing aspects of modern urban and rural life.

威廉•特雷弗，爱尔兰当代文学巨匠，被《纽约客》杂志称为“当代英语世界最伟大的短篇小说家”。他于1928年生于爱尔兰科克郡米切尔斯敦一个中产阶级新教家庭，在外省度过了童年时代，后到都柏林大学圣三一学院历史系求学。他先后做过雕塑家、教师、广告公司文案。从1954年起，他和妻子移居英国。自1958年出版第一部长篇小说《行为标准》以来，威廉•特雷弗已创作近二十部中长篇小说、数百部短篇小说，还著有多部戏剧剧本、童书及散文集。他先后三次获得英国惠特布雷德图书奖，五次入围布克奖。2002年，英国女王伊丽莎白二世授予他骑士爵位。2008年，他获得爱尔兰图书奖终身成就奖。