A Kind of Compass : Stories on Distance

The needle always points in the same direction, and yet it hardly ever looks like the same direction; almost always, sitting there in your hand, this magnet to the pull of the world, it looks like a direction you've never taken before. And besides, you don't have to go there. You don't have to take the path at which the needle nudges. Knowing it's there, you can veer off course. Knowing it's there, you can go anywhere. The needle will still know what it knows. With stories from some of the best writers working today, A Kind of Compass brings us to places and situations we could never otherwise experience. Funny, unnerving, vivid and real, these stories evoke the nature of distance, exploring the many ways in which it is possible to feel far from home. With Stories From Some Of The Best Writers Working Today, A Kind Of Compass Brings Us To Places And Situations We Could Never Otherwise Experience. Funny, Unnerving, Vivid And Real, These Stories Evoke The Nature Of Distance, Exploring The Many Ways In Which It Is Possible To Feel Far From Home. Terraforming / Elske Rahill -- The Naturals / Sam Lipsyte -- Six Days In Glorious Vienna / Yoko Ogawa -- The Unintended / Gina Apostol -- Extremadura (until Night Falls) / Kevin Barry -- Holy Island / Ross Raisin -- The Place For Me / E.c. Osondu -- The Rape Essay (or Mutilated Pages) / Suzanne Scanlon -- Finishing Lines / Sara Baume -- Animal Heart / Niven Govinden -- Distant Song / Kristín Ómarsdóttir -- Big Island, Small Island / Francesca Marciano -- Made / David Hayden -- Palomino / Mark Doten -- City Inside / Porochista Khakpour -- New Zealand Flax / Éilís Ní Dhuibhne -- Transition / Maria Takolander. Edited By Belinda Mckeon. A flight to Heathrow and a mission to Mars; final steps to an execution; a homecoming to say a last goodbye: the themes and territories investigated in A Kind of Compass are as diverse as they are extensive, bringing us to places and situations we could never otherwise experience. From airport lounges and hotel hallways to the most secret places within the human heart, these stories look at the many ways we can feel at a remove from what we want, what we long for, and from what we wish to forget. Funny, unnerving, vivid and real, these 17 stories evoke the nature of distance, exploring the many ways in which it is possible to feel far from home. With stories from some of the best writers working today, A Kind of Compass brings us to places and situations we could never otherwise experience. Funny, unnerving, vivid and real. Sara Baume, Kevin Barry, David Hayden, Elske Rahill, Ross Raisin, Porochista Khakpour, Niven Govinden, Yoko Ogawa, E.C. Osondu, Kristin Omarsdottir, Eilis Ni Dhuibhne. Borrowed from Rebecca Solnit's book, "A Field Guide to Getting Lost", "A Kind of Compass" is a gorgeous, sprawling meditation on all the ways in which we find ourselves lost.