There once was …

a woman who loved her husband’s cock so much that she began taking it to work in her lunchbox.

a man who made films without a camera, which transfixed his estranged daughter.

a couple who administered electric shocks to each other, to be reminded of what love is.

a world where you wake up one day and notice that, one by one, people are turning blue

Startling, wry, beguiling and emotionally charged – the stories in Modern Times might be reminiscent of Lydia Davis, Angela Carter and Daisy Johnson, but they are also unlike anything you’ve read before.

'Cathy Sweeney's work is jaw-droppingly good: inventive, funny, lush. One of the best short story writers working today.' - Sinéad Gleeson

'Cathy Sweeney's stories have already attracted a band of fanatical devotees, and this first collection is as marvellous as we could have hoped for. A unique imagination, a brilliant debut.' - Kevin Barry