Cheating at Canasta: Stories

Cheating at Canasta: Stories
by William Trevor

Cheating at Canasta: Stories
List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $3.49
You Save: $21.46 (86%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.20 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: William Trevor
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-10-18
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Viking Adult

Book Reviews of Cheating at Canasta: Stories

Book Review: The Laureate of Melancholy
Summary: 5 Stars

Reviewing William Trevor's THE STORY OF LUCY GAULT on this site some years ago, I wrote: "There are very few authors whom one trusts to lead one into dark places, with the assurance that there will be some beauty to be found there in the end. Trevor is emphatically one of them." In that book, in his novel FELICIA'S JOURNEY, and in almost all of his short stories, Trevor writes about the lost, the lonely, characters who are very young or growing old, people who have been deceived, rejected, or bereaved. But he also has the gift of benediction. The title of his previous collection, AFTER RAIN, is well-taken; his ability to bring the sun out after the storm is miraculous -- to produce not always a happy ending, but at least acceptance and understanding, a quiet gift of grace.

The stories in CHEATING AT CANASTA are just as good, but they are rather more sad. Trevor still has the power to set up a nuanced situation in a very few pages: the impending sale of an old estate in Ireland, an accidental encounter in Paris recalling boyhood traumas. He can still create characters who pull at your heartstrings: a fifteen-year-old girl meeting an older man from a chatroom, a widower finding love again after the death of his wife. And in story after story, he can still end gently with hard-won wisdom: a separated couple coming together again only to realize they were better apart, an old clergyman in doubt of his faith finding peace at the deathbed of his domineering sister. But while all the endings seem absolutely right, none of them is entirely happy. Trevor's rainfall still stops, but now mostly gives way to a tranquil dusk. I appreciate that... but do miss the occasional rainbow. [4.5 stars]

Summary of Cheating at Canasta: Stories

The publication of a new book by William Trevor is a great literary event. Trevor?s last collection, A Bit on the Side, was named a New York Times Notable Book and hailed as one of the Best Books of the Year by papers from coast to coast, including The Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle. And his earlier collection, After Rain, published in 1996, was named one of the eight best books of the year by The New York Times.

Trevor?s precise and unflinching insights into the hearts and lives of ordinary people are evidenced once again in this stunning new collection. From a chance encounter between two childhood friends to the memories of a newly widowed man to a family grappling with the sale of their ancestral land, Trevor examines with grace and skill the tenuous bonds of our relationships, the strengths that hold us together, and the truths that threaten to separate us. Subtle yet powerful, his stories linger with the reader long after the words have been put away.

Short Stories Books
Book Subjects
Most talked about in Short Stories Books
The Roald Dahl Treasury ImageThe Roald Dahl Treasury
by Roald Dahl
Jonathan Cape; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
The Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics) ImageThe Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics)
by John Steinbeck
Penguin Classics; Published: 1994-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.28
Price in other shops: $12.00
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain ImageA Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
by Robert Olen Butler
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.15
Price in other shops: $12.95
Guys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon ImageGuys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon
by Damon Runyon
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $43.26
How We Are Hungry ImageHow We Are Hungry
by Dave Eggers
PENGUIN; Published: 2006-02-23; Paperback; Book
Dressing Up for the Carnival ImageDressing Up for the Carnival
by Carol Shields
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.79
Price in other shops: $15.00
East, West ImageEast, West
by Salman Rushdie
Vintage Books; Published: 2006-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.93
Price in other shops: $10.50
Local Girls ImageLocal Girls
by Alice Hoffman
Vintage/Ebury (a Division of Random; Published: 2000-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops: $17.75
Someone to Watch Over Me: Stories ImageSomeone to Watch Over Me: Stories
by Richard Bausch
Harper Perennial; Published: 2000-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops: $13.00
Faithless: Tales of Transgression ImageFaithless: Tales of Transgression
by Joyce Carol Oates
Ecco; Published: 2001-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.04
Price in other shops: $15.90
Similar Books and other products
Love and Summer: A Novel ImageLove and Summer: A Novel
by William Trevor
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2010-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $15.00
Felicia's Journey: A Novel ImageFelicia's Journey: A Novel
by William Trevor
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1996-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops: $15.00
Love and Summer: A Novel ImageLove and Summer: A Novel
by William Trevor
Viking Adult; Published: 2009-09-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops: $25.95
Fools of Fortune (Penguin Classics) ImageFools of Fortune (Penguin Classics)
by William Trevor
Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-04-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops: $15.00
After Rain: Stories ImageAfter Rain: Stories
by William Trevor
Viking Adult; Published: 1996-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: $22.95
A Bit on the Side ImageA Bit on the Side
by William Trevor
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-09-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.07
Price in other shops: $15.00
Nights at the Alexandra (Modern Library) ImageNights at the Alexandra (Modern Library)
by William Trevor
Modern Library; Published: 2001-08-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $34.95
Selected Stories ImageSelected Stories
by William Trevor
Viking Adult; Published: 2010-11-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.97
Price in other shops: $35.00
The Hill Bachelors ImageThe Hill Bachelors
by William Trevor
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.18
Price in other shops: $15.00
After Rain: Stories ImageAfter Rain: Stories
by William Trevor
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1997-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.69
Price in other shops: $15.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories