A River in Egypt : Faber Stories

Author: Means, David

Short stories

Published on 7 March 2019 by FABER & FABER in the United Kingdom as part of ‘the Faber Stories’ series.

Paperback / softback | 48 pages
160 x 114 x 3 | 46g

Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. In his masterful story ‘A River in Egypt’, David Means paints a portrait of a moment. Cavanaugh and his young son are suspended; trapped in what a nurse calls ‘the sweat chamber’, where the boy will be tested for cystic fibrosis.

Cavanaugh has brought distractions – spasmodic action figures, malformed toy trucks – but they do little to alter the frustration of the sick child screaming, or to alleviate the anxiety of the time spent waiting for ‘some exactitude in the form of a diagnosis’.

Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.