We love A Couple of Things Before the End by Sean O'Beirne
A Couple of Things Before the End is a brilliant collection of short stories from debut Australian author Sean O'Beirne that has caught the attention of such literary luminaries as Helen Garner and Christos Tsiolkas.
Here, Readings staff share what they love about this book.
“All hail Sean O’Beirne, and his brilliant debut collection of short stories, A Couple of Things Before the End, a timely excoriation of the nostalgic myths of Australianness. With a master satirist’s hand, O’Beirne exposes the failings of our perceived values of mateship, luck, and egalitarianism, writing of this land of latent homophobia and class privilege, with its strange and violent colonial traditions, and the contracting grip of a reactionary right wing.”
– Alison Huber
“Sean O’Beirne is the master of duplication. His ability to imagine particular situations and to enact all with a seemingly authentic voice has multiple layers of effect. First, each story is its own yarn, a display of Australian-ism that is as honest as it is hilarious. Secondly and most importantly these tales are a breath of fresh air; here is poignancy held up so we can all see how ridiculous, how futile, how desperate we all seemingly are. Within this collection of stories you will find the heart of Australia and although I wish it wasn’t so, at least you will chuckle along the way.”
– Chris Gordon
“The voices Sean O'Beirne has captured in A Couple of Things Before the End are those of people you know – even people you might be related to – but, once you finish this incisive collection of stories, you might begin to wish they weren’t so familiar. Highly recommended for readers of George Saunders and David Foster Wallace.”
– Josh Barnes
“Sean O’Beirne is a very funny person, but his book is even funnier. He should have his own podcast series.”
– Rosalind McClintock
“A rugby player-turned-new government leader gives his victory speech. A man writes his memoirs. Two sisters have a phone call. A mid-century woman on a boat to London writes in her diary. Someone post-apocalypse picks up a pen. That is, of course, not all of what’s underneath the cover. (That cover! It’s so good!)
In each story in this debut collection, it is clear that O'Beirne is somebody who truly hears what it is like to be in this world. There is no smoothing of people’s words to make it palatable; he opts instead for a clear reality that shakes you out of what literature has adjusted us to. I’d heard previously about his abilities as a performer when reading stories in public, but here it’s evident that it’s not just the public Sean who makes them sing, but the words themselves. None of these tales – letters, speeches, thoughts, documented records, phone calls, memoir – feel like an author telling a story, but like characters come to life, telling their own. I loved it all, and you will too.”
– Fiona Hardy
