I am Your Sunshine

It’s a collection of short stories. Nick Hornby invited several writers he admires to contribute a story to the book and all the proceedings will go to charity.

The one by Giles Smith, yes, the Giles Smith who loves bantering the scouse every now and then, was Last Requests. The writing, unlike his usual sarcastic tone, was done rather plainly.

I always thought that a good ending is hard to come by; therefore, I’m often soft on bad endings and joyous when I see a decent one. I myself have often written something (I deem) smart or intriguing but stumbled at the end. However, there are some people whose stories seem tedious all the way, but somehow they manage to wrap everything in the last paragraph or even the very last sentence, to give it a twist, a revelation, or a closure which brings a bigger meaning to the entire story. And sometimes it’s so powerful that you can’t get your mind off of it.

Last Requests is that kind of story.