A fine selection of short stories from Mr Cunliffe here, showcasing the author's raw talent as a dramatist and storyteller.

These tales possess excellent turns of phrase and fine wry wit. The dialogue is sharp and lively, and each tale contains doses of comedy, nostalgia and pathos blended together extremely well amid a colourful and believable world behind the closed doors of the fictional Hopemouth University.
The hero – or rather anti-hero – Professor Guy Block, is indeed a lustful misogynist, who really does want to have his cake and eat it, but yet he is not dislikable. Cunliffe obviously cares about his creation, and this is shown in the writing, as we really get inside the professor's head and never think of him as a villain. And though Guy Block is the focus of the attention, the succession of (mainly female) minor characters are also invariably well-drawn and engaging.
Indeed, the only problem I have with this collection of stories is that it leaves you hungry for more... which is no bad thing in itself.
This book begs to be read again. And again, probably.
Excellent.

Ian Donald, Scottish Poet.

A hilarious portrait of a lothario lecturer at a British University who beds his students, colleagues and just about everyone he fancies with often funny and alternatively tragic results. The stories first appeared in Hackwriters.com and it's great that they have found their way into print in this collection. Guy Block is a loveable bastard I guess, the bloke who gets away with everything, or at least survives to do it all again another day. Read Stumbling Block and laugh, then just be jealous it isn't you getting your end away. The question remains though. Is Guy using women or are they using him?
Sam North Editor of Hackwriters.com and author of 'Another Place to Die'.