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Joseph Mackertich

Two stories of disappointment, regret and finely tuned hilarity from Joseph Mackertich. In Obsolescence, a reality television documentary maker starts to film his next door neighbour's every move - and gets far more than he's bargained for. In Ad Astra, a man goes hear a speech from the "stockholder's stockholder". It's the ultimate get rich quick conference stump speech - and the last thing that most people in attendance want to hear.

Galley Beggar Press

Galley Beggar Singles

Obscolescence And Ad Astra

C.D. Rose

A story that takes place on a train. About building a world out of matchsticks. About brothers. About drinking. About things that matter.

Arkady Who Couldn't See And Artem Who Couldn't Hear

Caroline Healy

A bomb blast. A face wound. A nun is there to help. But is it the kind of help that can be freely taken? This beautifully composed story about The Troubles is at once gentle, tender and explosive.

Nun On A Bike

Jon Fortgang

You feel the weight of the past behind you. That same weight is being transported up ahead. You go downstairs, open the backdoor and listen to the hiss of lorries on the distant M42. Sometimes that helps a bit. You can't escape the past. Not when the past is someone called Dave who insists - absolutely insists - you're going to remember, you're going to let him into your house, he's going to sleep in your bed, he's going to drink your whisky... This story by Jon Fortgang will make you wonder why you don't have more of an idea of who Jon Fortgang is. It's that good. He's that good.

Dave's Coming Down For A Bit

Michael Stewart

A new story from our first ever Singles Club author, Michael Stewart, in which, God has some explaining to do. You'd think that a conversation in front of a live audience would be the perfect place to do it. But He thinks otherwise...

Story Without Meaning

Gary Budden

Knotweed grows fast and grows strong. Helena has something growing in her too. Which is just part of the reason she can't live in Hackney any more...

Knotweed

Samuel Wright

A wonderful new mini-collection from Galley Beggar favourite and soon to be superstar, Samuel Wright.

Daughters: Three Stories

DJ Taylor

There were three or four other Terrapins in the dining room by now: innocuous-looking men in sober suits, who peered respectfully at the wine list and the framed photograph of the Duke of Windsor drinking a cocktail and looking as if he had just stepped in something nasty. An excerpt from D.J. Taylor's new collection Wrote For Luck, Birthday Lunch is a story of years passing, years wasted and bloody awkward conversations...

Birthday Party

Tony O'Neill

CJ is Joe's only friend. So Joe isn't happy when Death visits CJ's house. Tony O'Neill once more digs down into the dirt and brings up gems.

Waiting For CJ

James Miller

The powder was in the top cabinet, behind packs of organic barley and quinoa that we never use. I unwrapped the plastic and took out the bottle. I put on a pair of wash gloves and carefully unscrewed the lid, catching a faint whiff of something, thick, clotted and musty, like a crypt filled with dead spider's webs and moth's wings. I took a tea spoon and scooped out a tiny pinch. It was a dull grey colour. Quick, I stirred it in. A brief fizz as it met the JD and Coke, then nothing. I added two ice cubes. This is a story about an Exploding Zombie Cock by the brilliant James Miller. What more do you need to know?! (If you really have to know more, it definitely lives up the title. And is a bit rude.)

Exploding Zombie Cock

Richard Blandford

Tigh is the latest Pretty Boy on a popular children's TV show. The kids love him. The mums love him even more. So much that Tigh soon finds himself getting into a very sticky mess…

Pretty Boy Tigh

Benjamin Myers

Two very special stories from Benjamin Myers in one ebook. It's our first Galley Beggar Double-A side! The Folk Singer On a hot stormy night in London a music journalist interviews a reclusive female folk singer still living off the royalties off one hit single in the 1970s. Over too many drinks she begins to drop her guard and as thunder cracks over the city what started out as confrontation soon turns into something else entirely... The Folk Song Singer was awarded the Society Of Authors' Tom-Gallon Prize 2014. Los Desaparecidos At a resort in Mexico a young English couple meet Martin Ladore, a wealthy ex-pat who relates a tale of politi and intrigue from his time working in the international oil business. As their holiday progresses the couple find themselves pulled back into a dangerous past that appears to be catching up with this engaging but mysterious stranger.

The Folk Song Singer & Los Deseparacidos - Benjamin Myers

James Clammer

There is no blurb for The Cruellne.It stands entirely alone. You just have to read it. Trust me. And you just have to know what a Cruellne is. And how to say it... Oh and it's also probably useful to know that James Clammer is a serious talent. A name to remember.

The Cruellne

Andrew Lovett

A new story from Galley Beggar author Andrew Lovett. Another haunter. Another evocation of lost childhood. Another funny, sad, beautiful, wonderful story from this talented and deeply humane author. It's bitter, it's sweet and it's very, very tasty.

Daddy's Spaceship

Heidi James

An imitation of a story. What does that mean? Well, this short spiky narration from Heidi James will tell you. This is a book that talks directly to you... Although, it seems, the 'you' of the narrative may not want to listen. More's the pity, because there's something very important going on here. Something you have to read...

Cheap Imitation

Greg Sanders

"She was holding the lab workbook in front of her face and he imagined her smiling behind it. He leaned forward, his pulse slow but forceful, and placed his hand on her knee, index finger pointing up her skirt. Oh God, how he had wanted to be with her. Rhonda, keeping her face behind the book, moved her thigh backward a few inches, leaving Max's hand dangling in midair, still pointing to the place he had been thinking about ever since." Greg Sanders second story for Galley Beggar Press takes us behind the numbers - but not in the usual way. It shows us the humans doing the Maths. It also features what must be the single greatest cameo from a garbage truck in literary fiction... Do we need to say more? Okay, it's very sweet too.

The Fate Of Mathematicians

Dan Clements

Here's the start of the covering letter Dan Clements first sent to Galley Beggar Press: "My name is Dan Clements. I am a former Royal Marines Commando and intelligence specialist; I am now a geopolitical analyst by day, a writer by night, and a carer of two hyperactive kittens with every spare minute left to me. I am writing to introduce my short story collection, entitled 'Time is On My Side', in which I have sought to capture something of my experiences of the frontline in Afghanistan." Time Is On My Side turned out to be one of the best things we've been sent. It's raw, it's fascinating, it's angry, and it's also beautifully written. The Lion Of Babaji is the first (and hopefully far from the last) piece we've extracted from the collection. It's an account of dealing with an Afghan warlord. Do you even need to know more? Okay. It's frank, it's unsettling, it's brutal and yet compassionate. The first line is: "Haji Musa Khan was a crook and a murderer and a mean-looking old bastard and I couldn't help but like him" - and you have to read it.

The Lion Of Babaji

Alex Preston

"If one stopped to consider the vast network of coincidences that make up a life, he thinks, taking a packet of cigarettes from his jacket pocket, it would be enough to drive one mad." The Artist waits, and smokes, and dread builds. Alex Preston takes us behind the public facade of dictatorship and reveals a world of corruption, misadventure and compromise - and does it with all the clarity and precision of a portrait on a banknote...

Waiting For The General

'Imagine sleeping in it,' said Johnny. He leaned forward. 'Imagine lighting a fire, and killing a deer and roasting it there. We could skin it and gut it and salt it. We could live there.' His eyes widened. 'Let's do it. Let's spend the night there. It'll be amazing.' The Bunker is our second release from Samuel Wright, one of the most promising new talents we've seen. It's a story about friendship, love, rude jokes, bad words and spending a night in a World War 2 bunker. It's a story where every word counts...

The Bunker

Gerry Feehily

The final Galley Beggar Single of 2013 and a very special one. Gerry Feehily takes us into the glamorous exciting world of fashion and models - and demonstrates conclusively that they are neither glamorous or exciting. But they are deliciously disturbing. And funny. And nasty. And as for the gunk... This one goes deep.

Galley Beggar Singles - The book series

Galley Beggar Singles - The book series

Galley Beggar Singles books in order

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