Joseph O'Connor - Where Have You Been?

The Independent“Quietly unassuming gems...” O'Connor's pin-sharp descriptions are beautifully contrasted with the stark simplicity of the stories, but he teaches a masterclass in what's better left unspoken...

The Telegraph“Sonorous earnestness dogs the writing...” A few of the stories are mischievous and caustically funny; for the rest, an air of leaden melancholy pervades, ending with an overblown “novella” deploying O’Connor’s prototype of male depressive and failed affair, and a preaching, ponderous

The Irish Independent“A fine compassionate collection...” With Joseph O'Connor, humour more obliquely provides a cover for confronting readers with the darkness of the soul... his first collection of short stories for 20 years reasserts a mastery of the form that first drew me to his writing...

Guardian“O'Connor's return to the short story disappoints...” The mournful tone is typical of O'Connor's recent style, which has shifted from the somewhat blokey comedy of his early books into an elegiac mood... His novels have also grown more adventurous, but the stories seem deprived of this confidence...

Scotsman“Full of lovely, delicate perceptive stuff...” O’Connor’s characters are never inarticulate; even when they want to hide their true feelings, words pour out. They throw off sentences as if by doing so they might throw a bridge over a gulf and reach understanding. This is exhilarating...