Niki Aguirre short story writer and novelist
Reviews
What people are saying
"...Niki Aguirre doesn't need to be compared with anyone. She has her own voice, and it's a great one for a short story writer. The same tone runs through all the character's voices, and the fact she can create such different people all looking at the world from a similar slightly skewey angle is definitely to her credit. These are outsiders who, for once, are not trying to fit in. No, Aguirre's characters are too busy searching for their own brand of independence to worry what others think, and the originality that this gives the whole collection can't be underestimated.
"This debut novel is a collection of short stories which is perfect to dip in and out of at your leisure. Each tale takes us to a different country, spanning London to America. Along the way we meet a beautiful woman trapped in a marriage because her husband is so determined that money is the only thing of importance, a man who is at his happiest in his shed writing a story he knows he will never finish and a woman who is terrified of the rain after a traumatic experience during her childhood. Aguirre has an amazing imagination and each story is individual and thought-provoking. This collection of tales is perfect bedtime fodder."
The Sun
"Having been a little dubious after reading the last book for review which was so appalling, I am really glad to report that this one, 29 Ways to Drown, allayed all my misgivings! I thoroughly enjoyed it. These short stories are varied and individually unique. They range from the mystical, philosophical and day to day human interaction. The only constant is the very high quality of writing. There is a professional economy of language and good pace and flow. This author has thoroughly mastered the art of the short story. I can not wait to see if she can stretch to a full length novel. It is so exciting to find such a vibrant new writer, so I do hope that you will make the time to read this book for yourself."
Sutton Library Reading Group
"Niki Aguirre's stories tap into a long tradition of Latin American storytelling that brings to mind the work of Borges and Cortazar but with a wholly contemporary twist. Philosophical but gritty, magic but at the same time very certainly real, these stories deal with themes of time and memory across various setting from London to Ecuador. Lovers of the short story should not miss this delightful new collection."
Julia Bell, author of Massive and Dirty Work.
"Each of these ten extraordinarily diverse stories opens by inviting readers to a world that is foreign in a familiar way. Aguirre deftly creates slippery surfaces that offer all of the conventional pleasures of armchair travel.Every story appears to be set in a safely distant land much like our own, though with a twist of culture, psychology, chronology, character, history, setting. But little do we know how shocking these twists will prove to be, and how breathless we will be left as the truths behind the art are revealed. The territorial explorations of Aguirre are more Calvino than Theroux. In Aguirre's fiction, we discover a uniquely mature imagination sharing secrets, oaths, threats, platitudes, pleas, fables and warnings that could have emerged from Gogol, Borges, Paley, Carver or Singer.
Aguirre's imagination is beautifully served by her technical virtuosity and lyrical precision which craft unforgettable characters, dialogue ranging from the tragically inarticulate to the magically illuminating, and narrative structures worthy of Poe, Kafka, Atwood or Nabokov. It is difficult to believe that this profusion of characters and universes-and such a wealth of authentic wisdom delivered in these lapidary tales-could have emerged from the same writer. One wonders where Niki Aguirre has been that she has brought us back so many treasures held in these pages."
Lauri Ramey, Professor of Creative Writing and English, California State University
"Niki Aguirre breathes new energy into the short story, with a dark originality that makes hers compulsive reading while illuminating our kind and the crooked ways people live, fight and dream."
Jennifer Kabat, former editor of The Face, Arena, and ID magazine
"Mixing the passion of autobiographical honesty with a mystical sense of universal magic, Niki Aguirre brings her literary world to vivid life. The characters haunt and intrigue... Her exquisite tales resonate long after the last page..."
Courttia Newland, author of The Scholar, Society Within and Snakeskin
"Niki Aguirre is that rarest of writers, one who possesses an exuberant imagination, but who also casts a devastatingly sharp eye on human reality."
Laila Lalami, author of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
