David Park has lived and worked for most of his life in Belfast,and ORANGES FROMSPAIN is his first collection of stories.It is not surprising,then,that this collection reflects some of the anguish of that city,and some of its preoccupationsThese are stories about young people,about the realities of growing up against abackground of contradiction and confusion. What will finally surprise the reader is that they are also stories full of vigour and hope for the future. 'David Park writes beautifully about growing up in Belfast-of childhoods under God and the gun.Somehow,against all the odds,his stories are gentle,vivid,life affirming' Christopher Hope