Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Jason Taylor is 13, doomed to be growing up in the most boring family in the deadest village (Black Swan Green) in the dullest county (Worcestershire) in the most tedious nation (England) on earth. And he stammers. 13 chapters, each as self-contained as a short story, follow 13 months in his life as he negotiates the pitfalls of school and home and contends with bullies, girls and family politics. In the distance, the Falklands conflict breaks out; close at hand, the village mobilises against a gypsy camp. And through Jason's eyes, we see what he doesn't know he knows - and watch unfold what will make him wish his life had been as uneventful as he had believed. Vividly capturing the mood of the times - high unemployment, Cold War politics and the sunset of agrarian England - this is at once a portrait of an era and of an age: the black hole between childhood and teenagerdom.
His wildest ride yet. . a singular achievement, from an author of extraordinary ambition and skill . . . For the third time in a row, Mitchell has excelled himself. - Independent on Sunday on CLOUD ATLASA tremendous novel . . . one of the most shamelessly exciting books imaginable - Philip Hensher, Spectator on CLOUD ATLASExceptional . . . clever, unusual, gripping and beautifully written - Literary Review on NUMBER9DREAMResounds to the same marvellous chatter of voices that marked out Ghostwritten, his outstanding first novel - Observer on NUMBER9DREAMThe best first novel I have read in ages . . . the novel beguiles, informs, shocks and captivates. - William Boyd, Daily Telegraph Books of theFabulously atmospheric and wryly perceptive . . . a huge new talent - Guardian Books of the Year on GHOSTWRITTEN
David Mitchell's first novel, GHOSTWRITTEN, was published in 1999 and was awarded the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. His second novel, NUMBER9DREAM, followed in 2001 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize as well as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 2003, David Mitchell was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists and his third novel, CLOUD ATLAS was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the US National Book Critics Circle Awards and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, as well as winning the British Book Awards Best Literary Fiction and South Bank Show Literature Prize. Born in 1969, he grew up in Worcestershire, spent several years teaching in Japan, and now lives in Ireland with his wife and daughter.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780340839263 |
| ISBN 10 | 0340839260 |
| Title | Black Swan Green |
| Author | David Mitchell |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Year published | 2006-05-08 |
| Number of pages | 384 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |