Young Skins by Colin Barrett
*Winner of the 2014 Guardian First Book Award *Winner of the 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award *Winner of the 2014 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature This magnificent collection takes us to Glanbeigh, a small town in rural Ireland – a town in which the youth have the run of the place. Boy racers speed down the back lanes; couples haunt the midnight woods; young skins huddle in the cold once The Peacock has closed its doors. Here the young live hard and wear the scars. It matters whose sister you were seen with. If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, it matters a very great deal. Colin Barrett’s debut does not take us to Glanbeigh alone; there are other towns, and older characters. But each story is defined by a youth lived in a crucible of menace and desire – and each crackles with the uniform energy and force that distinguish this terrific collection.
Colin Barrett's sentences are lyrical and tough and smart, but there is something more here that makes him a really good writerHis stories are set in a familiar emotional landscape, but they give us endings that are new. What seems to be about sorrow and foreboding turns into an adventure, instead, in the tender art of the unexpected. -- Anne Enright
Language, structure, style - Colin Barrett has all the weapons at his disposal, and how, and he has an intuitive sense for what a short story is, and what it can do. -- Kevin Barry
Colin Barrett is a young man in the town of the short story, but it’s fair to say he has the run of the place. This is a joyously fine collection, crackling with energy and verve, fit for the back pocket of anyone who loves a good story well told. -- Jon McGregor
Magnificent...A stunning debut... The timeless nature of each story means this collection can - and will - be read many years from now. * Sunday Times (Ireland) *
Incredible… Human violence, beauty, brilliance of language – this book reminds you of the massive things you can do in short fiction. -- Evie Wyld
Exciting and stylistically adventurous. -- Colm Toibín * Irish Times *
Should you be surprised that yet another superbly articulate and word-drunk writer has come out of Ireland? Perhaps not; but when that writer's work is as moving, as funny, as spectacularly evocative as Young Skins, you should be astonished, and amazed, and grateful. Some of the stories in this debut collection are amongst the best in the language. That a young writer possesses a talent this great is a cause for celebration, matched only by his ability to control and harness it. A minute after finishing this book I was itching to read Colin Barrett's next. -- Niall Griffiths
A new fabulous and forensic voice to sing out Ireland’s woes. -- Bernard MacLaverty
Colin Barrett is a writer of extraordinary gifts. I loved this compelling and utterly persuasive collection, the strongest debut I've read in some years. -- Joseph O'Connor
Language, structure, style - Colin Barrett has all the weapons at his disposal, and how, and he has an intuitive sense for what a short story is, and what it can do. -- Kevin Barry
Colin Barrett is a young man in the town of the short story, but it’s fair to say he has the run of the place. This is a joyously fine collection, crackling with energy and verve, fit for the back pocket of anyone who loves a good story well told. -- Jon McGregor
Magnificent...A stunning debut... The timeless nature of each story means this collection can - and will - be read many years from now. * Sunday Times (Ireland) *
Incredible… Human violence, beauty, brilliance of language – this book reminds you of the massive things you can do in short fiction. -- Evie Wyld
Exciting and stylistically adventurous. -- Colm Toibín * Irish Times *
Should you be surprised that yet another superbly articulate and word-drunk writer has come out of Ireland? Perhaps not; but when that writer's work is as moving, as funny, as spectacularly evocative as Young Skins, you should be astonished, and amazed, and grateful. Some of the stories in this debut collection are amongst the best in the language. That a young writer possesses a talent this great is a cause for celebration, matched only by his ability to control and harness it. A minute after finishing this book I was itching to read Colin Barrett's next. -- Niall Griffiths
A new fabulous and forensic voice to sing out Ireland’s woes. -- Bernard MacLaverty
Colin Barrett is a writer of extraordinary gifts. I loved this compelling and utterly persuasive collection, the strongest debut I've read in some years. -- Joseph O'Connor
Colin Barrett was born in 1982 and grew up in County Mayo. His stories have been published in The Stinging Fly, Granta, Harper’s and the New Yorker. His first book, the short story collection Young Skins, won the 2014 Guardian First Book Award, the 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the 2014 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. In 2018 Barrett was selected as the Rolex Arts Initiative protege in Literature. His debut novel is forthcoming from Jonathan Cape.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780224101677 |
| ISBN 10 | 0224101676 |
| Title | Young Skins |
| Author | Colin Barrett |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 2014-03-06 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Prizes | Winner of Frank OConnor International Short Story Award 2014 (UK), Winner of Guardian First Book Award 2014 (UK), Long-listed for The Folio Prize 2015 (UK) |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |