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The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award Shortlist Collection 2019
Publisher's Summary
Diverse and moving, these six outstanding stories are meditations on grief and loss, love, communication and loneliness. Each one will take the reader on a brief yet unforgettable journey into private worlds and unexpected corners of the human heart.
The shortlisted stories have all been chosen for this year's Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award - the world's richest and most prestigious prize for a single short story, dubbed the 'equivalent of the Man Booker for the short story' by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The finalists of 2019 come from three continents, whose exceptional stories span such diverse territory as high end fashion, the Troubles, a disastrous poetry anthology cross-cultural romance and family secrets. But all are linked by their competence and artistry, through stylistic inventiveness, dark humour, intricacy, and a masterful formal control.
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What listeners say about The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award Shortlist Collection 2019
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Harshal
- 28-03-20
Very overrated
Not sure how these are award winning material. Average at best. Some stories are rather vague and wierd.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gaurav
- 03-02-20
excellent writing!
an excellent story and impressive narration! a beautiful premise!! ! worth a read! (y) !
1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Tulika mattoo
- 24-05-20
Not Good
struggled to finish this one. didn't like most of the stories even the delivery was not up to mark. there were no wow moments. no need to waste your time on this. would not recommend this one.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Mr Stephen Goodman
- 17-02-20
Hate to see those that lost
If these are the short list I'd hate to see those that didn't make the cut.
The stories have no substance.
I didn't bother to listen to the last two.
8 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Jessica
- 06-05-20
Truly awful.
If this is a shortlist of the best short stories I find it hard to imagine how terrible the other stories must have been. Truly dreadful, pointless and not really ‘stories’ at all.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Arnold Seivwright
- 10-03-20
short stories lots of depth
I found that each story elicited some sort of emotional response from me, some subtle like the peace after a smile and some strong like the abyss after loss, well worth a listen to.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Newhaven Stud
- 21-04-20
I'm obviously not smart!
Apart from Comma, which I vaguely understood, the meaning...the rest were utter wastes of time. All ending at pointless points, with no clarity or clear message.
Recommend? Definitely not. I genuinely feel 5 of 6 were a waste of time listening to.
If these were the best of 2019's entries, what on Earth were the rest like? Or, perhaps, the rest were too 'obvious' to be picked for this award. Who knows, but I certainly wasn't impressed by the endings of any of the stories; all too abrupt and meaningless.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- mollyeyre
- 28-10-19
Such nonsense!
This collection, which I admit to discarding, really makes me worry for the quality of the future of the book industry!
So far I have struggled through three of the stories, I get the impression that there is a lot of 'the Emperor's new clothes' here. The writers are thinking how clever they are, and the judges want to be seen as 'forward thinking and also clever and insightful'
Frankly the tales are just plain daft, some are vulgar, and it is insulting to anyone who has a modicum of common sense that they are being presented as the best of current offerings.
21 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ailsa Osborne
- 14-04-20
How did these become Award Winners
I struggled to get my head around some of these tales. Unusual or just weird, up to you?
3 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- A. Tompkins
- 09-02-20
glad I didn't pay for these
some started promisingly but they never really got going... disappointing endings... All The Poems I liked the most
3 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anita Shah
- 25-01-20
Very weird
Totally strange stories all open wnded and don’t see the plot... to be fair gave up after story no4!
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- diane goldman
- 26-03-20
Outstanding!
Each story is very different! Written so beautifully and narrated perfectly. Completely captivating.
Highly recommended!
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs R
- 16-03-20
so enjoyable!
great mix of talented writers and well chosen narrators makes this a joy. I have relistened to a my favourites, real gems.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 07-07-20
Comme was strangely gripping and relatable
Excellent performance! I was immersed, taken to a familiar place and found comfort in this modern day urban struggle.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Chiribai
- 25-06-20
What were the rest like?
Really struggled with these. Occasional flashes of promise that fizzed to mediocre. Maybe it's me.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-06-20
Well done1
A great collection of stories. Lots of variety , well constructed and easily narrated. Very enjoyable, more please!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Scimum
- 11-05-20
Relatable and thought provoking
I enjoyed all these short stories and they provided a welcome break in between long book series. I felt I could relate to the narrators and wanted to know what would happen to them, even if their experiences were far from my own.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Cacelia
- 05-05-20
if I could id give this zero stars I would
I downloaded this seeing as it was free and it looked like something monotonous to help me drift off to sleep at night. I was wrong, the voices are dull enough to be soothing but not enough to send you off to the land of nod, the plots are uninspired refuse and the characters are vapid and meaningless to the point of making me angry instead of sleepy. to top this all off I can not return the damn thing because it was free, so now its making me angry every time I have to look at is icon in my library, in other words not worth your time.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- ShapelessOne
- 15-03-20
Not for me
I tried to enjoy the stories, but most of them were just not enjoyable to me
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Layla Sacker
- 07-02-20
A treat.
This collection was just what I needed and the short stories were all original, beautifully written and the subject matter so engaging. While there were some that I preferred, each one well deserved inclusion in the shortlist . I looked up some of the writers that I most enjoyed, to see if there was anything else they had published. I look forward to reading their next work and so appreciated the opportunity to hear some new voices.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-01-20
surprisingly ok
something to listen to. might need to listen again to remind myself because i think i missed something
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-10-19
Love Unknown
Beyond brilliant, I am craving for happy ending yet sit sombre with the reality of it all.