Please

Twenty-four writers turn the wit, romance, and melancholia of The Smiths into a sharp collection of short fiction.

As he did with Noise: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth, editor Peter Wild has pulled together an eclectic list of talented writers who take their cue from one of the world’s best loved bands—The Smiths.

Wild invites novelists and storytellers to take individual song titles as creative springboards, following characters through botched burglaries in suburban alleys and awkward supermarket encounters.

The anthology moves from damp Manchester towpaths to quiet housing offices and cramped flats in Berlin.

Please is sure to please fans of The Smiths, Morrisey, and guitarist Johnny Marr—as well as contributors such as Nic Kelman, Willy Vlautin, and Catherine O’Flynn.
Short Story Collections: Willy Vlautin charts the unraveling romance of a Reno warehouse worker, and Alison MacLeod traces a dying man's memories of a stone carving from Oscar Wilde's tomb.Brit Lit: John Williams recalls an eccentric friend walking fifteen miles over Welsh mountains to catch a gig.Black Humor: Mike Gayle follows a modest housing clerk whose thinly disguised debut novel triggers a wild Hollywood bidding war and threatens his closest friendships.Pop Culture: Matt Beaumont skewers authorial envy through a desperate novelist wrestling with a rival commission instead of his musical heroes.Also by This Author: Noise.