All the Lights by Clemens Meyer

Winner of the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2008

A man bets all he has on a horserace to pay for an expensive operation for his dog. A young refugee wants to box her way straight off the boat to the top of the sport. Old friends talk all night after meeting up by chance. She imagines a future together.

Stories about people who have lost out in life and in love, and about their hopes for one really big win, the chance to make something of their lives. In silent apartments, desolate warehouses, prisons and by the river, Meyer strikes the tone of our harsh times, and finds the grace notes, the bright lights shining in the dark.

More information

• ‘Of Dogs and Horses’, Katy Derbyshire’s  translation of a story from the collection, was published in The Guardian in June 2009.
• You may also be interested in reading an early interview with Clemens Meyer in English at signandsight.com.
• You can read Stuart Evers’ incisive, sizzling introduction on Readux.
• If you subscribed to And Other Stories before this book’s publication, you would have received one of the limited number stamped, early copies of it and 3 other And Other Stories 2011 titles. Find out about subscribing to upcoming titles here.

Praise for Clemens Meyer

• ‘Take the bare prose of Raymond Carver, apply the bleak outlook of Michel Houellebecq, place characters from an Irvine Welsh book on German streets, and you have something close to this collection of 15 short stories… His tales have an evanescent, impressionistic quality… Meyer thrills and rewards.’ Alex Rayner, The Guardian
• ‘Stories of brilliance.’ Chris Power, in ‘2011’s Best Short Stories’ piece in The Guardian
• ‘A bold experiment that augurs well for this talented young writer.’ The Herald (Scotland)
• ‘A little like Raymond Carver, fifteen stories, laconic yet full of longing, from the young star of German fiction.’ GQ
• ‘He pulls few punches in the telling of his stories, but he does so with acuity, tenderness and complete originality.’ Rob Burdock, Christmas Gifts Guide, The Booktrust
• ‘Meyer’s minimalist style (rendered through Derbyshire’s deft translation) enables him to cram words with significance, changing the mood in a clause and sketching a backstory in a sentence. He can evoke extremely powerful and often surprising responses in the reader.’ A Year of Reading the World blog
• ‘What Meyer manages to achieve leaves you speechless. These stories glow in the world’s darkness.’ Die Welt
• ‘Clemens Meyer writes the best crafted, toughest and most heart-rending stories in Germany.’ Spiegel
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