On the Yankee Station
- Authors: William Boyd
- Series:
- Type: Collection Of Stories
- Genres: Literary fiction
- Rank:
- Rating: 4 based on 35 reviews
- Release Date: January 1, 1984
- Print length: 217 pages (Hardcover)
About the book
Adolescent sex in a Scottish boys' public school, oddballs on the seedy side of America, murder in a quiet Devon cottage are some of the subjects in this collection of short stories. It also includes two early adventures from the career of Morgan Leafy, anti-hero of "A Good Man in Africa"
Wiliam Boyd, winner of the Whitbread and Somerset Maugham Awards, introduces unlikely heroes desperate to redeem their unsatisfying lives.
From California poolsides to the battlegrounds of Vietnam, here is a world populated by weary souls who turn to fantasy as their sole escape from life's inequities. Stranded in an African hotel during a coup, an oafish Englishman impresses a young stewardess with stories of an enchanted life completely at odds with his sordid existence in "The Coup." In the title story, an arrogant, sadistic American pilot in Vietnam underestimaets the power of revenge when he relentlessly persecutes a member of his maintenance crew. With droll humor and rare compassion, Boyd's enthralling stories remind us of his stature as one of contemporary fiction's finest storytellers.
Praise for On the Yankee Station
Mr. Boyd seems singularly blessed with both an innate love of storytelling and the talent to render those stories in swift, confident prose.