Pauls
National Post "NP99" Best Book of 2015
Paul, who is not always the same Paul, but could very well be a similar Paul, another Paul in a long line of Pauls. Paul runs through forests, drinks in student housing, flirts with girls, at times is a girl, loves men, makes friends, jumps from buildings, hurts people, gets hurt, climbs up towards the sky, waits for a sunrise, and all those human things. Pauls, the debut short-story collection by the exciting young writer Jess Taylor, is about people: the things that remain unseen to them; how they cope with their unforgettable pasts; the different roles they take in each other's lives; how they hurt each other; how they try to heal each other; the things they want to learn; and the things they'll never discover. At the same time, Pauls is a portrayal of the world as these people see it -- they all exist in a universe that is strange and indifferent to those within it. Coincidences, relationships, conversations, and friendships all pose more questions than answers. With a unique tone that balances humour, irony, and heavy themes, this series of interconnected stories has already garnered attention from awards' panels, with the title story winning Gold at the 2013 National Magazine Awards. Its contemporary tone and playful language offer an enjoyable read for people who like lively short fiction that focuses attention on themes of identity, relationships, and love.Earn by promoting books
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JESS TAYLOR is a Tkaronto (Toronto) writer and poet. She is the author of the novel, Play, and two story collections: Pauls, the title story of which won the 2013 Gold Fiction National Magazine Award, and Just Pervs, a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Fiction. Her story "Two Sex Addicts Fall in Love" was longlisted for the 2018 Journey Prize.
"A magical and penetrating collection of strange, mundane, traumatized and ecstatic people who are all named Paul. Its simple sentences are little atoms of wonder." --Heather O'Neill, author of The Girl Who Was Saturday Night and Lullabies for Little Criminals
"Reading a Jess Taylor story is like planting a magic bean and watching, with a flashlight, as it grows overnight into something you've never seen before. But then you climb up the stalk of the story and look around and realize there is no magic at all, at least, nothing un-real. These are true stories, illuminated with the wisdom of Flannery O'Connor and the wild leaping logic of Hans Christian Andersen." --Michael Winter, author of Minister Without Portfolio and Into the Blizzard: Walking the Fields of the Newfoundland Dead
"I read Jess Taylor's debut with a kind of childlike enthusiasm. As a writer, she's thoughtful, compassionate, imaginative and intellectually curious. Her stories tend to establish themselves slowly, like a storm moving in, and they always revolve around a strong emotional centre that pulls you in, some sort of gravity. Don't resist." --Guillaume Morissette, author of New Tab
"Taylor's debut collection is a cycle of bristlingly good stories that all feature at least one character named Paul. It's an exciting thing to behold; one gets the sense of discovering in her authentic, compelling voice a master-in-waiting, like a young Alice Munro." --National Post
"Taylor is fascinated by the politics of romance, visiting over and again deceits, unspoken words, veiled threats, and the fundamental inability for men to understand women (and, of course, vice versa). For an author who'll turn 30 four years from now, Taylor exhibits remarkable insights into matters of the fickle heart." --Toronto Star
"The collection succeeds not only because Taylor has chosen the perfect vehicle to bring forth her unifying themes of repetition and chance, but also because of her skill as a storyteller and her great attention to detail." --Winnipeg Review
"In the world of Pauls, love is deliriously, obsessively painful, and Taylor has her finger placed squarely on that exquisite bruise."--Broken Pencil Magazine
"At the level of language, the stories are colloquial and calm even while broaching the subject of trauma. Taylor's nimble prose guides the collection through its dark corridors. Her sentences simmer, slowly building a quiet pathos." --The Rusty Toque
"The world of Taylor's stories is not odd or quirky, but the banal and brutal place that the world just is. It's how that world is viewed in Taylor's stories that rotoscopes poetry onto the reality." --The Bookshelf Blog
"Taylor is adept at capturing the anxiety-ridden tenor of the current zeitgeist." --The Globe and Mail
"I really enjoyed Jess Taylor's debut collection, Pauls. These stories offer portraits of a twentysomething brain: one that is trying to figure out how on earth to deal with all the feelings that come with being an adult. The wisdom in these stories is so hard come by, and is at once so beautiful, so tiny, so terrifying. Like all talented writers, Taylor makes you long for what she will do next." --Heather O'Neill on why Pauls is her favourite book of 2015 for CBC Books
"There is a sharp and simultaneously tender vision at the heart of Pauls. It's fine. And it's fine. And it is also fine. And, it's a careful line of stitching." --Buried in Print
