A Bit Off the Map, and Other Stories is a 1957

1957 in literature

The year 1957 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Lawrence Durrell publishes the first volume of The Alexandria Quartet. The final of the four volumes will be published in 1960....

 collection of eight short stories written by Angus Wilson

Angus Wilson

Sir Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson, CBE was an English novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.-Biography:Wilson was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England, to...

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Background

The book is Wilson's third collection of short stories. It takes its title from the first story included in the collection.

Stories

The stories in A Bit Off the Map include "A Flat Country Christmas", "Once A Lady", and "More Friend Than Lodger". Wilson reveals the motives behind the pompous behaviour of his characters. The stories intersperse the ironic, as a way of deflating the premises of the facades the characters have erected.

Characters

Marina MacKay, of Washington University in St. Louis, says the characters in the collection, "are struggling to find their place on England's post-war map." She takes particular note of Kennie, the hero of "A Bit Off the Map." She calls him "a mentally subnormal teddy boy who drifts around cafes, infatuated with an untalented, artistic crowd."

Reception

Critical reception of the story was generally quite positive. Reviewing the collection in the year of its release, Time Magazine called it "brilliantly readable", and noted that "there is no denying the sneering precision of his observations."