Motel View

First published in 1992, Motel View was acclaimed by reviewers and shortlisted for the 1993 Wattie Award, but it remains Forbes Williams' only book (so far) and is something of a lost classic. "Readers of Sport know about Williams, a regular contributor to our best literary magazine, but otherwise he's been a pretty closely guarded secret, little known outside Dunedin. This brilliant collection of short fiction will change that. Some are long, substantial pieces; Others are only two paragraphs. Some are written with pitiless clarity; others are teasingly enigmatic. The man can do anything - he's got range, warmth, wit and an infallible ear for New Zealand idiom - and there's something here for everyone, from the highest brow to the humblest lover of yarns. And for those of us somewhere in the middle there's an enormous amount of pleasure (sometimes simple, sometimes complex) to be had from virtually every page."