WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING

PLAYLIST

I created a playlist of the songs I listened to while I was writing the book. You can check it out here.

THE COVER

Luke Bird at Faber designed the cover. Each photo represents a different story in the collection. I interviewed Luke about it here.

WRITERS I READ

The following writers are the ones whose work I was reading around the time I was writing the book – and/or from whom I found permission to write in certain ways: 

Donald Barthelme, Frederick Barthelme, Ali Smith, Grace Paley, George Saunders, Dylan Thomas, Philip MacCann, Kevin Barry, Colin Barrett, Anne Enright, Jean-Paul Sartre, David Berman, Lorrie Moore, Raymond Carver, Richard Yates, Ottessa Mosfegh, Wells Tower, Albert Camus, Hermann Hesse, Aleksandar Hemon, ZZ Packer, Joy Williams, Bernard Malamud, Jon McGregor, Ian McEwan, Flannery O’Connor, Frank O’Connor, Don DeLillo, JG Ballard, AM Homes

‘Heart-hurtingly acute, laugh-out-loud funny, and one of the most satisfying collections I’ve read for years.’

— Ali Smith, Guardian Books of the Year

We Don’t Know What We’re Doing was my debut story collection, published in 2015 by Faber and Faber. It features ten stories, all set in my hometown of Caerphilly. Well, all except one.

Read stories

‘Castle View’: here.

‘Clap Hands’: here.

‘all the boys’: here.

Buy the book

If you’re in Ireland or Britain and you’re in the position to buy/order the book from a local independent bookstore, that would be amazing. Otherwise, you can order physical copies (in paperback; the hardback is basically out of print) or an eBook version from all the usual places. If money’s tight, please ask your library to order it in.

If you’re looking to avoid ordering from Jeff Bezos, I recommend:

UK

Blackwells (free delivery)

Ireland

Kenny’s (free delivery)

USA/Canada/elsewhere!

Depending on where you are, Blackwells offer free or very low postage across the world