Heartland - Brossura

Cross, Neil

Brossura

ISBN 10: 074326374X ISBN 13: 9780743263740

Casa editrice: Scribner, 2006

Riassunto

When he was five, Neil's mother walked out of the family home. Two years later she returned with a new man; Derek Cross. His new stepfather prided himself on being an exemplary parent, kind, patient, never too tired to read him stories. Neil loved him. Yet underneath lurked another Derek Cross - a monster: conman, adulterer, liar, racist and a cold-hearted manipulator.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

'Truly sensational . . . genuinely comes straight from the heart. Quite simply, it cannot be faulted' BIG ISSUE 2/5
'He has created a marvellously uncensorious portrait of someone who was both a bad man and an exemplary surrogate father . . . Cross is a novelist, and he has given his own life-story the shapeliness and ironic depth of fiction' SUNDAY TIMES 15/5
'Neil Cross is a great writer and his story grimly fascinating. Yes, he was unhappy, shuttling back and forth during the 1970's between his father in Bristol and mother in Edinburgh. But he was also transfixed by his stepfather, Derek, an enigmatic man who became a Mormon bishop and was also a serial abandoner. This relationship is the absorbing focus of this flinty portrait of a family pulled in so many directions it eventually collapses' METRO 18/5
'As an English boy in a tough Scots playground, Neil Cross was never going to have it easy, but his stepfather Derek hardly helped - a white supremacist South African, he then became a Mormon bishop. But, against the odds, Derek also provided Neil with an unlikely refuge' YOU, MAIL ON SUNDAY 29/5
'Neil's story is utterly compelling and his writing beautiful. He brilliantly conveys a child's view of the world' WESTERN DAILY PRESS 21/5
'Neil's salvation and this wonderful account are a stunning testimony to the redemptive power of the love of books, his lasting legacy from Derek Cross' DAILY MAIL 3/6
'At the book's heart is Neil's ambivalent relationship with his stepfather Derek Cross, this massively influential figure rendered vividly and compassionately' THE LIST 26/5 4 Star review
'This is a beautiful, disturbing book, strongly recommended' DAILY EXPRESS 10/06
'A distressingly fine piece of writing' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
'Wonderful memoir of a different kind of childhood: fractured, unhappy and at the whimsical mercy of a stepfather who is half-hero, half-monster. A great example of how to wrest real life into a work of art' Jonathan Coe, Hot Reads, GUARDIAN Summer Books 18/6
'Growing up lonely and confused in Scotland, bullied for his Englishness and in the care of a wayward stepfather, Neil Cross somehow pulled through and emerged as a fine writer. This memoir of a fractured childhood is even better than his novels' Jonathan Coe, THE LIST.
'HEARTLAND has many qualities, not least the poetry of its language and the gentle evocation of a late 1970s childhood. But it is the relentless persecution of Derek that truly ignites this book. The way Cross puts the authorial boot in, tears shining in his eyes, is grimly riveting' INDEPENDENT OF SUNDAY 26/06
'[Cross's] childhood seems by turns drab and dangerous, but there are reasons for recalling it, even if they are private ones. As one of his characters says in ALWAYS THE SUN, 'Don't forget what it's like, being a boy'.
'Written with a novelist's skill for structure and atmosphere, the book's a real page-turner. But of course it's his portrayal of Derek Cross that one will remember. A domestic tyrant, a monster of egotism and perhaps not as rare as one might wish' THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE 19 June 2005
‘Novelist Neil Cross’s memoir shows a desperate childhood, scarred by sundry acts of violence and multiple betrayals...It sounds like a no-fun read, but its author has a brilliant memory for sights and smells and his alchemy keeps the reader involved pretty well from beginning to end’
Sunday Telegraph 18/12

‘The striking feature of the book is not Neil’s terrible childhood but the clarity with which he shows how unbearable the world can seem to little boys everywhere’
Observer 1/1

‘This moving, wonderful memoir of the complexity of love and cruelty is brilliant piece of writing – and a tribute to Cross’s endurance and survival’
Express 6/1

‘This is the most honest autobiography I have ever read read - warts and all...A must-read for parents about to introduce a new partner to their children"’
Woman Magazine, bookclub choice Jan issue

‘Neil Cross’s resolute rejection of pity makes this memoir an unnerving read, and all the more special in a world where you can hardly move for bestselling memoirists racking their brains for yet more horrific recollections of child abuse...Cross’s observations are savagely lucid and he punches out judgement with every anecdote, but what is most striking is the strength of resolve that develops in Neil’s interior “heartland”.’
Daily Telegraph 7/1

L'autore:

Neil Cross is the author of several novels including Always the Sun and Burial, as well as the bestselling memoir Heartland. He has been lead scriptwriter for the two most recent seasons of the acclaimed BBC spy drama series Spooks and continues to write widely for the screen.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Scribner
• Data di pubblicazione: 2006
• ISBN 10: 074326374X
• ISBN 13: 9780743263740
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 328