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The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age by David E. Sanger
In a chilling new book, The Perfect Weapon, David Sanger details how more than 30 nations have developed effective cyber forces.
Financial Times
[Sanger] writes with persuasiveness and authority.
The Telegraph
[Sanger is] a shrewd and insightful strategic thinker.
New York Times
An encyclopedic account of policy-relevant happenings in the cyberworld … the most comprehensive, readable source of information and insight about the policy quandaries that modern information technology and its destructive potential have spawned.
New York Times Book Review
Sanger, The New York Times’ security correspondent, has catalogued the recent history of how cyber warfare has developed, how it needs to be confronted, and the intensely complex policy issues that arise.
Courier Mail
In his new book, The Perfect Weapon, Sanger offers a panoramic view of the rapidly evolving world of cyber-conflict. He covers incidents from the covert U.S. cyber-campaign to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program (a story we know about largely because of Sanger’s diligent reporting) to Edward Snowden’s epic heist of National Security Agency data. And yes, there’s also plenty of background on Russia’s active measures during the 2016 campaign. But there’s also a wealth of gripping material on stories that have probably been missed by the broader public … It all adds up to a persuasive argument for the truth of the book’s title.
Christian Caryl, The Washington Post
[The Perfect Weapon is] an important – and deeply sobering – new book about cyberwarfare.
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
Anyone who doubts cyber’s unintended consequences should read David Sanger’s new book The Perfect Weapon. Sanger, a reporter for The New York Times, has been a dogged and diligent observer of cybersecurity issues for years. His book is a readable account of what went wrong.
Robert Samuelson, The Washington Post
This encyclopedic account by a Times correspondent traces the rapid rise of cyberwarfare capabilities and warns that ideas about how to control them are only beginning to emerge.
The New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice)
Sanger, The New York Times’ security correspondent, has catalogued the recent history of cyber warfare, how it needs to be confronted and the intensely complex policy issues that arise. This is the last word in the modern world of cyber warfare – until artificial intelligence takes over.
Mercury
The Perfect Weapon may be one of the most important, if chilling, books you’ll read this year.
The Saturday Age
The greatest virtue of Sanger’s writing is that it is clear-headed and morally grounded, not in any way breathless or apocalyptic.
Paul Monk, Weekend Australian
For the rest of the lay public, this very accessible book by New York Times journalist David Sanger is an outstanding volume to fill in the gaps.
Anthony Smith, NZ International Review
Financial Times
[Sanger] writes with persuasiveness and authority.
The Telegraph
[Sanger is] a shrewd and insightful strategic thinker.
New York Times
An encyclopedic account of policy-relevant happenings in the cyberworld … the most comprehensive, readable source of information and insight about the policy quandaries that modern information technology and its destructive potential have spawned.
New York Times Book Review
Sanger, The New York Times’ security correspondent, has catalogued the recent history of how cyber warfare has developed, how it needs to be confronted, and the intensely complex policy issues that arise.
Courier Mail
In his new book, The Perfect Weapon, Sanger offers a panoramic view of the rapidly evolving world of cyber-conflict. He covers incidents from the covert U.S. cyber-campaign to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program (a story we know about largely because of Sanger’s diligent reporting) to Edward Snowden’s epic heist of National Security Agency data. And yes, there’s also plenty of background on Russia’s active measures during the 2016 campaign. But there’s also a wealth of gripping material on stories that have probably been missed by the broader public … It all adds up to a persuasive argument for the truth of the book’s title.
Christian Caryl, The Washington Post
[The Perfect Weapon is] an important – and deeply sobering – new book about cyberwarfare.
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
Anyone who doubts cyber’s unintended consequences should read David Sanger’s new book The Perfect Weapon. Sanger, a reporter for The New York Times, has been a dogged and diligent observer of cybersecurity issues for years. His book is a readable account of what went wrong.
Robert Samuelson, The Washington Post
This encyclopedic account by a Times correspondent traces the rapid rise of cyberwarfare capabilities and warns that ideas about how to control them are only beginning to emerge.
The New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice)
Sanger, The New York Times’ security correspondent, has catalogued the recent history of cyber warfare, how it needs to be confronted and the intensely complex policy issues that arise. This is the last word in the modern world of cyber warfare – until artificial intelligence takes over.
Mercury
The Perfect Weapon may be one of the most important, if chilling, books you’ll read this year.
The Saturday Age
The greatest virtue of Sanger’s writing is that it is clear-headed and morally grounded, not in any way breathless or apocalyptic.
Paul Monk, Weekend Australian
For the rest of the lay public, this very accessible book by New York Times journalist David Sanger is an outstanding volume to fill in the gaps.
Anthony Smith, NZ International Review
Happy Never After: why the happiness fairytale is driving us mad by Jill Stark
A moving, insightful analysis of our collective pain and how we can heal. Australia needs this book.
Johan Hari, Author of Lost Connections
Funny, wise, poignant and compelling, Happy Never After is a brilliant intersection between searing personal experience and the wisdom of the elders: nothing brings us closer to despair than the relentless pursuit of our own happiness.
Hugh Mackay, Author of The Good Life
Faced with the crippling paralysis that comes with anxiety and depression, Jill Stark doesn’t completely crumple. Instead, she does what a good journalist does: looks it directly in the face in order to explain, investigate, and reveal. Anyone who reads this book who lives with anxiety will be a beneficiary of its courage and clarity.
Benjamin Law, Author of Gaysia and The Family Law
By looking back on her childhood, interviewing experts and amassing anecdotal data, Stark expertly links her lifelong struggle with anxiety with a collective social malaise that is exacerbated by our constant connectivity, underfunded mental healthcare systems and the pervasive ‘happiness myth’ … The book’s resounding takeaway that there are multiple ‘happy-in-betweens’ instead of one ‘happy-ever-after’ is an uplifting and liberating one.
Books+Publishing
Extraordinary … Stark address[es] this vexed question of what effect our over-stimulated, almost constantly wired brains are having on our sense of well-being.
theage.com.au
This is a book we need. Highly, highly recommended. Puts a deft finger on many things that I guarantee have been quietly troubling you for a while. A book for our times.
Susan Carland, author of Fighting Hislam: Women, Faith and Sexism
Exploratory and explanatory.
Miriam Cosic, The Saturday Age
Johan Hari, Author of Lost Connections
Funny, wise, poignant and compelling, Happy Never After is a brilliant intersection between searing personal experience and the wisdom of the elders: nothing brings us closer to despair than the relentless pursuit of our own happiness.
Hugh Mackay, Author of The Good Life
Faced with the crippling paralysis that comes with anxiety and depression, Jill Stark doesn’t completely crumple. Instead, she does what a good journalist does: looks it directly in the face in order to explain, investigate, and reveal. Anyone who reads this book who lives with anxiety will be a beneficiary of its courage and clarity.
Benjamin Law, Author of Gaysia and The Family Law
By looking back on her childhood, interviewing experts and amassing anecdotal data, Stark expertly links her lifelong struggle with anxiety with a collective social malaise that is exacerbated by our constant connectivity, underfunded mental healthcare systems and the pervasive ‘happiness myth’ … The book’s resounding takeaway that there are multiple ‘happy-in-betweens’ instead of one ‘happy-ever-after’ is an uplifting and liberating one.
Books+Publishing
Extraordinary … Stark address[es] this vexed question of what effect our over-stimulated, almost constantly wired brains are having on our sense of well-being.
theage.com.au
This is a book we need. Highly, highly recommended. Puts a deft finger on many things that I guarantee have been quietly troubling you for a while. A book for our times.
Susan Carland, author of Fighting Hislam: Women, Faith and Sexism
Exploratory and explanatory.
Miriam Cosic, The Saturday Age
The Museum of Words: A Memoir of Language, Writing, and Mortality by Georgia Blain
[A] passionate, piercingly observed farewell to what Blain loved most in life … its fragile strength, depth of insight and sheer hard-won existence make it a book to be read, treasured and shared as the parting gift it is.
Books+Publishing, Four Stars
A fine short memoir that looks both inward and outward to tell a patchwork story of four women and their shifting relationships with one another and with words, their medium for living … She does not try to make sense of what was happening and does not rail against fate’s cruelty. She does not argue for voluntary euthanasia and even notes that her mother, once an advocate, went quiet on the subject after she became ill. Blain simply continues to write, her voice faltering only occasionally, until her final sentence.
Susan Wyndham, Weekend Australian
A powerful meditation on the power of language and writing … wise, tender, and heart-rending.
Nicole Abadee, AFR
Blain seamlessly reveals joys and complications of her family, and manages to provide some keen insights into the art and graft of telling stories … Museum is calm and tender and wise and brisk.
The Listener
The Museum of Words is a very powerful, private essay on the end of being, invested with an unshakeable sense of presence, of fellow-humanity. Also with true verbal beauty and lyrical evocativeness. With her last book Blain proves that one can indeed, and most significantly, “go gently into that good night”.
Mika Provata-Carlone, Bookanista
The paradox of writing about life while trying to live it, a perspective that perhaps comes only from looking back from the end.
Katy Hershberger, Shelf Awareness
Books+Publishing, Four Stars
A fine short memoir that looks both inward and outward to tell a patchwork story of four women and their shifting relationships with one another and with words, their medium for living … She does not try to make sense of what was happening and does not rail against fate’s cruelty. She does not argue for voluntary euthanasia and even notes that her mother, once an advocate, went quiet on the subject after she became ill. Blain simply continues to write, her voice faltering only occasionally, until her final sentence.
Susan Wyndham, Weekend Australian
A powerful meditation on the power of language and writing … wise, tender, and heart-rending.
Nicole Abadee, AFR
Blain seamlessly reveals joys and complications of her family, and manages to provide some keen insights into the art and graft of telling stories … Museum is calm and tender and wise and brisk.
The Listener
The Museum of Words is a very powerful, private essay on the end of being, invested with an unshakeable sense of presence, of fellow-humanity. Also with true verbal beauty and lyrical evocativeness. With her last book Blain proves that one can indeed, and most significantly, “go gently into that good night”.
Mika Provata-Carlone, Bookanista
The paradox of writing about life while trying to live it, a perspective that perhaps comes only from looking back from the end.
Katy Hershberger, Shelf Awareness
The Museum of Words: a memoir of language, writing, and mortality by Georgia Blain
[A] passionate, piercingly observed farewell to what Blain loved most in life … its fragile strength, depth of insight and sheer hard-won existence make it a book to be read, treasured and shared as the parting gift it is.
Jo Case, Books+Publishing Four Stars
A fine short memoir that looks both inward and outward to tell a patchwork story of four women and their shifting relationships with one another and with words, their medium for living … She does not try to make sense of what was happening and does not rail against fate’s cruelty. She does not argue for voluntary euthanasia and even notes that her mother, once an advocate, went quiet on the subject after she became ill. Blain simply continues to write, her voice faltering only occasionally, until her final sentence.
Susan Wyndham, Weekend Australian
An incredible gift for those who loved Blain, those who valued her writing, and those who are still to discover this great writer … We are so lucky to be able to read it.
Stella Charls, Readings
[Museum of Words] is not a memoir of dying, although it is about illness and treatment, and the impossibility of saying goodbye. It moves between its subjects, using the writer’s illness reflexively, leading into description of the things most important to her … [A] fine book that looks chaos directly in the face and attempts to record it.
Tegan Bennett Daylight, Sydney Morning Herald
A powerful meditation on the power of language and writing … wise, tender, and heart-rending.
Nicole Abadee, AFR
The true story of Blain the woman: early 50s, loving and beloved and dealing with loss all around her, who understands both her art and her very life are slipping away.
The Saturday Paper
Blain seamlessly reveals joys and complications of her family, and manages to provide some keen insights into the art and graft of telling stories … Museum is calm and tender and wise and brisk.
The Listener
The Museum of Words is a very powerful, private essay on the end of being, invested with an unshakeable sense of presence, of fellow-humanity. Also with true verbal beauty and lyrical evocativeness. With her last book Blain proves that one can indeed, and most significantly, “go gently into that good night”.
Mika Provata-Carlone, Bookanista
The paradox of writing about life while trying to live it, a perspective that perhaps comes only from looking back from the end.
Katy Hershberger, Shelf Awareness
Jo Case, Books+Publishing Four Stars
A fine short memoir that looks both inward and outward to tell a patchwork story of four women and their shifting relationships with one another and with words, their medium for living … She does not try to make sense of what was happening and does not rail against fate’s cruelty. She does not argue for voluntary euthanasia and even notes that her mother, once an advocate, went quiet on the subject after she became ill. Blain simply continues to write, her voice faltering only occasionally, until her final sentence.
Susan Wyndham, Weekend Australian
An incredible gift for those who loved Blain, those who valued her writing, and those who are still to discover this great writer … We are so lucky to be able to read it.
Stella Charls, Readings
[Museum of Words] is not a memoir of dying, although it is about illness and treatment, and the impossibility of saying goodbye. It moves between its subjects, using the writer’s illness reflexively, leading into description of the things most important to her … [A] fine book that looks chaos directly in the face and attempts to record it.
Tegan Bennett Daylight, Sydney Morning Herald
A powerful meditation on the power of language and writing … wise, tender, and heart-rending.
Nicole Abadee, AFR
The true story of Blain the woman: early 50s, loving and beloved and dealing with loss all around her, who understands both her art and her very life are slipping away.
The Saturday Paper
Blain seamlessly reveals joys and complications of her family, and manages to provide some keen insights into the art and graft of telling stories … Museum is calm and tender and wise and brisk.
The Listener
The Museum of Words is a very powerful, private essay on the end of being, invested with an unshakeable sense of presence, of fellow-humanity. Also with true verbal beauty and lyrical evocativeness. With her last book Blain proves that one can indeed, and most significantly, “go gently into that good night”.
Mika Provata-Carlone, Bookanista
The paradox of writing about life while trying to live it, a perspective that perhaps comes only from looking back from the end.
Katy Hershberger, Shelf Awareness
Client Earth by James Thornton, Martin Goodman
The story of ClientEarth– and of its charismatic Founder, James Thornton – is truly inspirational. His only client is our battered, abused planet, and his favoured arsenal is the rule of law in defense of public interest. The hard-fought victories that you’ll hear about are all important, but more important still are the vision, values and gritty dedication of an amazing group of lawyers and campaigners to whom we owe a very great deal.
Jonathan Porrit
Client Earth provides a tantalizing glimpse of how a variety of strategies can converge to create a global environmental effort.
Nature
Humanity's grace and dignity are restored each time a case is successfully brought and won … by these exceptional environmental lawyers.
This excellent book shows how it is possible to use the law to hold politicians to the promises that they make when they sign agreements on environmental and climate change.
Peter Wadhams, Professor of Ocean Physics, University of Cambridge
This book is an inspiration for those of us trying to build a sustainable future – and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to know how and why we must deploy and enforce the law in the fight against ecological destruction.
Caroline Lucas
Can lawyers save the planet? Musty court rooms may be less romantic than hugging trees and less dramatic than accosting whalers on the high seas, but the answer may be yes. And guess what, lawyers can hug trees and have a lyrical turn of phrase, too.
Fred Pearce
ClientEarth have been pioneers in using the tool of environmental legislation to tackle the modern scourge of air pollution. This is the story of how they're doing it.
Ed Miliband
[A] great book about how to save the planet using the long arm of the law.
Coldplay
An inspiring read. It shows how the law is not just within the gift of the authorities to wield. Engaged citizens can do it too.
E&T
A hopeful book about the environment and a page-turner about the law.
The Guardian
The book is inspirational in a hard headed, let’s go to work-and-get-real-results sort of way … There’s a global vision. It's quietly amazing. One of the more significant books of the year.
Oxford Today
When Ronald Reagan appointed Anne Gorsuch (mother of the newest Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch) to head the EPA, he asked if she was willing to ‘bring it to its knees’. She slashed its budget and, as the New York Times put it, ‘sabotaged the agency’s enforcement effort’. In response, James Thornton, a crusading lawyer, brought private actions to hold polluters to account. In 1982, while the EPA brought 14 cases against industries under the Clean Water Act, Thornton brought sixty.
Frederick Wilmot-Smith
Anyone with an interest in environmental activism and environmental law will take pleasure in this vigorous account of justice in the making.
Kirkus
Jonathan Porrit
Client Earth provides a tantalizing glimpse of how a variety of strategies can converge to create a global environmental effort.
Nature
Humanity's grace and dignity are restored each time a case is successfully brought and won … by these exceptional environmental lawyers.
This excellent book shows how it is possible to use the law to hold politicians to the promises that they make when they sign agreements on environmental and climate change.
Peter Wadhams, Professor of Ocean Physics, University of Cambridge
This book is an inspiration for those of us trying to build a sustainable future – and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to know how and why we must deploy and enforce the law in the fight against ecological destruction.
Caroline Lucas
Can lawyers save the planet? Musty court rooms may be less romantic than hugging trees and less dramatic than accosting whalers on the high seas, but the answer may be yes. And guess what, lawyers can hug trees and have a lyrical turn of phrase, too.
Fred Pearce
ClientEarth have been pioneers in using the tool of environmental legislation to tackle the modern scourge of air pollution. This is the story of how they're doing it.
Ed Miliband
[A] great book about how to save the planet using the long arm of the law.
Coldplay
An inspiring read. It shows how the law is not just within the gift of the authorities to wield. Engaged citizens can do it too.
E&T
A hopeful book about the environment and a page-turner about the law.
The Guardian
The book is inspirational in a hard headed, let’s go to work-and-get-real-results sort of way … There’s a global vision. It's quietly amazing. One of the more significant books of the year.
Oxford Today
When Ronald Reagan appointed Anne Gorsuch (mother of the newest Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch) to head the EPA, he asked if she was willing to ‘bring it to its knees’. She slashed its budget and, as the New York Times put it, ‘sabotaged the agency’s enforcement effort’. In response, James Thornton, a crusading lawyer, brought private actions to hold polluters to account. In 1982, while the EPA brought 14 cases against industries under the Clean Water Act, Thornton brought sixty.
Frederick Wilmot-Smith
Anyone with an interest in environmental activism and environmental law will take pleasure in this vigorous account of justice in the making.
Kirkus
You Could Do Something Amazing with Your Life [you Are Raoul Moat] by Andrew Hankinson
Immersing the reader in Moat's self-justifications, You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is both an experiment in empathy and an exploration of the limits of empathy – holding the reader hostage in the echo chamber of an angry and confused man’s head.
Louis Theroux
Brilliantly written … Smart literary non fiction.
Jon Ronson, Author of The Psychopath Test
The media love the idea that a killer’s mind is somehow “impenetrable”, because it gives them carte blanche to fill it up with their sensationalised bullshit … This book does the commendable job of demystifying evil yet again, and showing us the rainy-Tuesday-afternoon-dullness and grinding frustration that can lead some unbalanced people to topple into the abyss.
Will Self
Brilliant, gripping and important. Fans of Gordon Burn have found a new favourite writer.
Will Storr, Author of The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science
We all know how the story ends, but this balled fist of a book reads like a thriller.
Dan Rhodes, Author of When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow
Masculinity, media and life on the margins of modern Britain are all put under the microscope via the true and sorry story of outlaw Raoul Moat … His very public disintegration is captured perfectly by Andrew Hankinson.
Benjamin Myers, Author of Beastings and Pig Iron
Claustrophobic, tense and truly original, this gripping account of Raoul Moat’s last days is impossible to put down. Andrew Hankinson has done a superb job in marshalling the source material and presenting it in such a way that the reader sees an unravelling world through Moat’s eyes. The result is utterly unexpected, leaving one torn between feelings of disgust, fear and pity. This is a book that stays with you for a long time.
Dan Davies, Author of In Plain Sight
What sets this book apart is the fact that Hankinson’s narrative, written in the second person, is formed entirely of Moat’s own words. The result is a desperately sad book about masculinity, deprivation and loss.
Rachel Cooke, The Observer
Andrew Hankinson’s You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is an account of Moat’s last days that, written in the second person and drawing on diary entries and previously unheard tapes, reads like a novel.
Tom Gatti, New Statesman
Writer and reader squat inside a mind that moves from irrational anger and self-pity to despondency … Hankinson deftly assembles [Moat’s] inner workings, lending credibility to his portrait while, beyond the myopic commentary, we know, although we don’t see it, that the outside world is closing in.
Benjamin Myers, New Statesman
An extraordinary study of violence, in all its bathos and banality.
Sarah Ditum, The Spectator
[Hankinson’s] bold non-fiction debut puts you in the gunman’s shoes by weaving an urgent second-person narrative from his on-record thoughts … Intelligently done.
Anthony Cummins, Metro
A powerful portrayal of the banality of violence … a trigger finger of a book: taut, tense and on edge.
Helen Davies, Sunday Times
Hankinson’s approach, a descendant of the literary non-fiction favoured by fellow Northerners Gordon Burn, Blake Morrison and David Peace, allows us to inspect Moat’s bitter logic up close.
Philip Maughan, Financial Times
Taut, uncomfortably thrilling … An unvarnished reconstruction of Moat’s murderous rampage, which allows the facts – and the perpetrator – to speak for themselves … Moat was a tormented man with little mastery over his violent urges. His testimony lays bare a retarded moral sense: right until the end he was largely unrepentant of his actions, elated even, and indifferent or oblivious to the pain he had caused. He was a destroyer, not a hero.
Rob Doyle, Irish Times
A claustrophobic true-crime account in the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood… [Hankinson’s] purpose is to show Moat as a product of our culture and society … Moat is presented as an intriguing case study in disintegration, making bad choices then devoting all his intelligence to justifying them in his own head.
Gavin Knight, The Guardian
A remarkable book … [which] gives the reader the chilling, dreadful impression of being inside Moat’s head. Nothing less than compelling.
Irish Independent
In less skilful hands, telling the story through Moat’s eyes could have burnished the outlaw “legend” of Moat. Hankinson does not do that, even though he shows us flashes of humanity … His book does its bit in demystifying evil.
The Times
Chilling … A very unsettling read.
The Herald
Impressive … A powerful, intimate account of a ruined mind.
am Jordison, 3:AM Magazine
Powerfully and claustrophobically effective … [Hankinson] generates just enough sympathy and pathos to make sense of the situation, but no more.
Theo Tait, LRB
I strongly recommend this book. Brilliantly written.
John Niven, Author of Kill Your Friends
The second-person voice is a notoriously tricky one to maintain and Hankinson uses it to great effect … Another strength is the overwhelming sense that Moat is not in control of his own narrative.
The Saturday Paper
Hankinson has pulled off a singular journalistic feat, filtering the sequence of events following Moat’s release from prison through his own eyes. What Moat knows, we know. This is fact, with gelignite at its core.
Weekend Press, Book of the Week
[Hankinson] takes us inside the killer’s head without giving the reader the privilege of distance from which to judge him.
The Guardian
Being in Moat’s angry, paranoid head is an uncomfortable and gut-churning place to be, yet Andrew Hankinson never lets Moat off the hook, challenging his victim mentality and denials of wrong-doing with bald statements of fact. This is a powerful and disquieting book.
Crime Review
One of the most original true crime books to emerge from Britain in the last decade … A tradition in British crime writing is to begin with the shootout and then whizz back to the perp’s childhood to pore over clues that might explain his behavior. Instead, Hankinson keeps us in the eye of the storm — creating what Hollywood calls a ‘contained drama’ that confines the reader inside the protagonist’s unhinged mind. The result is devastating: we see how Moat justifies his actions and ignores those who try to help, with no pesky analysis to interrupt the events … While the author does deftly fact-check Moat’s unreliable narration with clever parentheses, his immersive second-person approach was a brave storytelling decision that has won the book awards in England … [a] grim, high-definition, virtual-reality portrait.
Jeff Maysh, Los Angeles Review of Books
True crime from a radically different perspective.
Kirkus
Haunting and deeply unsettling.
Tobias Carroll, Mystery Tribune
Louis Theroux
Brilliantly written … Smart literary non fiction.
Jon Ronson, Author of The Psychopath Test
The media love the idea that a killer’s mind is somehow “impenetrable”, because it gives them carte blanche to fill it up with their sensationalised bullshit … This book does the commendable job of demystifying evil yet again, and showing us the rainy-Tuesday-afternoon-dullness and grinding frustration that can lead some unbalanced people to topple into the abyss.
Will Self
Brilliant, gripping and important. Fans of Gordon Burn have found a new favourite writer.
Will Storr, Author of The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science
We all know how the story ends, but this balled fist of a book reads like a thriller.
Dan Rhodes, Author of When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow
Masculinity, media and life on the margins of modern Britain are all put under the microscope via the true and sorry story of outlaw Raoul Moat … His very public disintegration is captured perfectly by Andrew Hankinson.
Benjamin Myers, Author of Beastings and Pig Iron
Claustrophobic, tense and truly original, this gripping account of Raoul Moat’s last days is impossible to put down. Andrew Hankinson has done a superb job in marshalling the source material and presenting it in such a way that the reader sees an unravelling world through Moat’s eyes. The result is utterly unexpected, leaving one torn between feelings of disgust, fear and pity. This is a book that stays with you for a long time.
Dan Davies, Author of In Plain Sight
What sets this book apart is the fact that Hankinson’s narrative, written in the second person, is formed entirely of Moat’s own words. The result is a desperately sad book about masculinity, deprivation and loss.
Rachel Cooke, The Observer
Andrew Hankinson’s You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is an account of Moat’s last days that, written in the second person and drawing on diary entries and previously unheard tapes, reads like a novel.
Tom Gatti, New Statesman
Writer and reader squat inside a mind that moves from irrational anger and self-pity to despondency … Hankinson deftly assembles [Moat’s] inner workings, lending credibility to his portrait while, beyond the myopic commentary, we know, although we don’t see it, that the outside world is closing in.
Benjamin Myers, New Statesman
An extraordinary study of violence, in all its bathos and banality.
Sarah Ditum, The Spectator
[Hankinson’s] bold non-fiction debut puts you in the gunman’s shoes by weaving an urgent second-person narrative from his on-record thoughts … Intelligently done.
Anthony Cummins, Metro
A powerful portrayal of the banality of violence … a trigger finger of a book: taut, tense and on edge.
Helen Davies, Sunday Times
Hankinson’s approach, a descendant of the literary non-fiction favoured by fellow Northerners Gordon Burn, Blake Morrison and David Peace, allows us to inspect Moat’s bitter logic up close.
Philip Maughan, Financial Times
Taut, uncomfortably thrilling … An unvarnished reconstruction of Moat’s murderous rampage, which allows the facts – and the perpetrator – to speak for themselves … Moat was a tormented man with little mastery over his violent urges. His testimony lays bare a retarded moral sense: right until the end he was largely unrepentant of his actions, elated even, and indifferent or oblivious to the pain he had caused. He was a destroyer, not a hero.
Rob Doyle, Irish Times
A claustrophobic true-crime account in the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood… [Hankinson’s] purpose is to show Moat as a product of our culture and society … Moat is presented as an intriguing case study in disintegration, making bad choices then devoting all his intelligence to justifying them in his own head.
Gavin Knight, The Guardian
A remarkable book … [which] gives the reader the chilling, dreadful impression of being inside Moat’s head. Nothing less than compelling.
Irish Independent
In less skilful hands, telling the story through Moat’s eyes could have burnished the outlaw “legend” of Moat. Hankinson does not do that, even though he shows us flashes of humanity … His book does its bit in demystifying evil.
The Times
Chilling … A very unsettling read.
The Herald
Impressive … A powerful, intimate account of a ruined mind.
am Jordison, 3:AM Magazine
Powerfully and claustrophobically effective … [Hankinson] generates just enough sympathy and pathos to make sense of the situation, but no more.
Theo Tait, LRB
I strongly recommend this book. Brilliantly written.
John Niven, Author of Kill Your Friends
The second-person voice is a notoriously tricky one to maintain and Hankinson uses it to great effect … Another strength is the overwhelming sense that Moat is not in control of his own narrative.
The Saturday Paper
Hankinson has pulled off a singular journalistic feat, filtering the sequence of events following Moat’s release from prison through his own eyes. What Moat knows, we know. This is fact, with gelignite at its core.
Weekend Press, Book of the Week
[Hankinson] takes us inside the killer’s head without giving the reader the privilege of distance from which to judge him.
The Guardian
Being in Moat’s angry, paranoid head is an uncomfortable and gut-churning place to be, yet Andrew Hankinson never lets Moat off the hook, challenging his victim mentality and denials of wrong-doing with bald statements of fact. This is a powerful and disquieting book.
Crime Review
One of the most original true crime books to emerge from Britain in the last decade … A tradition in British crime writing is to begin with the shootout and then whizz back to the perp’s childhood to pore over clues that might explain his behavior. Instead, Hankinson keeps us in the eye of the storm — creating what Hollywood calls a ‘contained drama’ that confines the reader inside the protagonist’s unhinged mind. The result is devastating: we see how Moat justifies his actions and ignores those who try to help, with no pesky analysis to interrupt the events … While the author does deftly fact-check Moat’s unreliable narration with clever parentheses, his immersive second-person approach was a brave storytelling decision that has won the book awards in England … [a] grim, high-definition, virtual-reality portrait.
Jeff Maysh, Los Angeles Review of Books
True crime from a radically different perspective.
Kirkus
Haunting and deeply unsettling.
Tobias Carroll, Mystery Tribune
The Few by Nadia Dalbuono
Nadia Dalbuono is writing this with both the detachment of an outsider and the understanding of a resident. As with Donna Leon, Dalbuono clearly sees the terrible stagnation and immorality of the system ... The Few is an exciting and compelling read.
Crime Squad
Has Donna Leon found her match?
Maxim Jakubowski, lovereading.co.uk
[An] unsettling detective thriller set in the dark heart of the corrupt Italian political system.
Chris Herde, Daily Telegraph
[A] really good debut ... The plot is murky and messy, the pace is fast and the characters well drawn, conflicted and compromised.
Auckland Herald
[A] professional and confident foray into the realms of crime fiction ... This detective has many more novels in him than the modest two-volume series planned so far.
Kerrryn Goldsworthy, Canberra Times
Corruption, politics, and personal agendas combine to create a murky atmosphere of confusion and chaos. Scamarcio is a complicated character, as befits such a complex storyline ... Slow burning, slow building, but ultimately rewarding.
Tessa Chudy, Good Reading magazine
Packed full of twists and turns with never a dull moment … A real page-turner.
Crime Review
Gripping ... You won't be able to put down this unsettling tale.
The Sun
An excellent mystery and a great foundation for a new series.
RuthAlice Anderson, Tonstant Weader
Crime Squad
Has Donna Leon found her match?
Maxim Jakubowski, lovereading.co.uk
[An] unsettling detective thriller set in the dark heart of the corrupt Italian political system.
Chris Herde, Daily Telegraph
[A] really good debut ... The plot is murky and messy, the pace is fast and the characters well drawn, conflicted and compromised.
Auckland Herald
[A] professional and confident foray into the realms of crime fiction ... This detective has many more novels in him than the modest two-volume series planned so far.
Kerrryn Goldsworthy, Canberra Times
Corruption, politics, and personal agendas combine to create a murky atmosphere of confusion and chaos. Scamarcio is a complicated character, as befits such a complex storyline ... Slow burning, slow building, but ultimately rewarding.
Tessa Chudy, Good Reading magazine
Packed full of twists and turns with never a dull moment … A real page-turner.
Crime Review
Gripping ... You won't be able to put down this unsettling tale.
The Sun
An excellent mystery and a great foundation for a new series.
RuthAlice Anderson, Tonstant Weader
No Way But This: In Search of Paul Robeson by Jeff Sparrow
Sparrow shows how this admittedly splendid actor, this marvelous singer, this charismatic speaker, had somehow evolved into something more: he had for many people become the embodiment of the global longing for a better world, a juster dispensation … Sparrow has made perfect and haunting sense of him.
Simon Callow, New York Review of Books
In a chronologically methodical and delightfully insightful approach that might best be described as “bio-tourism”, Australian author, journalist, and broadcaster Sparrow tells the story of preternaturally gifted Paul Robeson … [A]n excellent and perhaps timely reboot of Robeson’s singularly incredible life, especially as its trajectory now intersects with contemporary racial issues.
Library Journal
Written with an exhilarating combination of insight and passion … A necessary book. A social movement that calls itself “Black Lives Matter” exists because those lives are being treated as if they don’t. Sparrow knows that when he writes of the past, “If you believed in nothing, you’d fall for anything,” he is also writing about now.
Anna Funder, Author of Stasiland
With sensitive inquisition; fierce curiosity; razor-sharp observation; crisp, engaging prose; and a fondness and respect for his subject that fairly sings, Sparrow once again proves himself one of the finest nonfiction writers we have.
Maxine Beneba Clarke, Author of The Hate Race
Urgent and compelling ... A mix of essay, journalism, history and biography [that is] engaging, original and insightful ... Fascinating, instructive and full of astute observations on race and politics, No Way But This: In Search of Paul Robeson will appeal to readers passionate about social justice and the history of 20th-century political movements.
Books + Publishing
Jeff Sparrow's No Way But This is a major addition to what we know of, and how we may know, this 20th-century giant ... It’s impossible to do justice in a brief space to such a life of commitment – or to suggest just what a compelling narrative Sparrow has made of it. He has aptly brought this giant to the attention of later generations.
Sydney Morning Herald
Paul Robeson was truly a giant of a man, in physical stature, courage, intellect, and creative endeavour. With this intimate and engaging portrait, we are able to gain an invaluable insight into a major political and artistic talent of the twentieth century. Ours is a time requiring inspiration, affiliation, and solidarity. Paul Robeson surely provides the inspiration we desperately need.
Tony Birch, Author of Blood and Ghost River
An amazing story I didn’t even know I didn't know. Jeff pulls us through the grubby terrain of race, Jesus, prison, and fascism.
John Safran, Author of Murder in Mississippi
Part journalist, part historian, Jeff Sparrow writes with loving discernment about a remarkable man and the forces that shaped his unmistakable voice. [This is] a gripping story of courage and commitment, told by one of our finest chroniclers of the human capacity for tenderness amid the squalor. Sparrow takes us on a global journey, revealing that beyond an old man and a river, there lies a deep valley of hatred and hope, sadness and solidarity.
Claire Wright, Stella Prize-winning Author of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka
Brilliantly told by Jeff Sparrow, Paul Robeson's story is compelling and important. No Way But This is a challenge to history and a reminder of what unites us.
Owen Jones, Guardian Columnist and Author of The Establishment
This is an inspiring biography of a really remarkable human being.
Johann Hari, Author of Chasing the Scream
Both moving and illuminating ... It is timely that in an era when there are more African-American men in jail or on parole in the United States than there were men in bondage at the height of slavery and when the Black Lives Matter movement is gathering momentum that there is a book to remind us about this astonishing individual and the political climate in which he used his popular voice to highlight systemic inequality.
Readings
A great book about a fascinating man. Read it and be inspired!
Srdja Popovic, Author of Blueprint for Revolution
An illuminating look at the life of a frankly remarkable man.
The AU Review,Five Books You Need to Read this Month
Remarkable ... It revives Robeson as a model of integrity and bravery – someone who, despite the precarity of his social position, risked his life and career for the ideas of workers’ rights, black liberation, anti-colonialism and international socialism. As Robeson’s story unfolds, the ghosts of past struggles unite with those who fight for political emancipation around the world today. By naming and connecting these diverse groups, Sparrow opens a space for a new public to be formed. Robeson, with his integrity, struggles and flaws, provides a powerful model for the kinds of political action we so desperately need.
Sydney Review of Books
Told sensitively and often movingly by a writer awake to the nuances of the political and social contexts in which Robeson moved, this is a story that reverberates today, full of tragedy but also exhilaration and promise. It is the story we need to hear.
Overland
Sparrow's lively portrait should restore a little of the fame the great man deserves.
Weekend Herald(Auckland)
Book of the week … [A] conscientious and often painful biography.
Daily Mail
Robeson’s character, art, principled politics and legacy of extraordinary courage all come vividly to life in No Way But This. There are many worthy books about the life of Paul Robeson, but this is one not to be missed.
Red Flag
A thoughtful, sensitive and respectful examination of the life and work of Paul Robeson ... More than the biography of one remarkable man, the book is a testament to Robeson’s conviction that despite it all, there was no way but to struggle for a better world.
Green Left Weekly
A splendid account of this fabulous figure ... This is an intriguing life, beautifully realised by a fine writer, and should be widely read and appreciated.
The Minder
The book gripped me. I read excerpts to The Spouse over breakfast; I neglected the ironing, forgot to water the vegetable patch ... Now that’s a book well worth reading!
ANZ LitLovers
An entertaining, informative and important book.
Kit de Waal, Author of My Name is Leon,
Sparrow has eloquently portrayed Robeson as a giant of a man who was prepared to kill off his career for his political beliefs. He emphasises that past struggles should inform today; we need not just inspiration to act but affiliation to organise and solidarity to withstand.
Morning Star Online
Absolutely wonderful.
Simon Callow
Sparrow’s account not only soars, it sings.
Sight and Sound
Jeff Sparrow is the latest biographer to tackle this riveting subject and he ably demonstrates how journalistic method can contribute to historical understanding.
TLS
Sparrow has made a worthy effort, joining other recent work, including Jordan Goodman’s Paul Robeson: A Watched Man, and Gerald Horne’s Paul Robeson: the Artist as Revolutionary. Each is worth reading.
Paul Buhle
Simon Callow, New York Review of Books
In a chronologically methodical and delightfully insightful approach that might best be described as “bio-tourism”, Australian author, journalist, and broadcaster Sparrow tells the story of preternaturally gifted Paul Robeson … [A]n excellent and perhaps timely reboot of Robeson’s singularly incredible life, especially as its trajectory now intersects with contemporary racial issues.
Library Journal
Written with an exhilarating combination of insight and passion … A necessary book. A social movement that calls itself “Black Lives Matter” exists because those lives are being treated as if they don’t. Sparrow knows that when he writes of the past, “If you believed in nothing, you’d fall for anything,” he is also writing about now.
Anna Funder, Author of Stasiland
With sensitive inquisition; fierce curiosity; razor-sharp observation; crisp, engaging prose; and a fondness and respect for his subject that fairly sings, Sparrow once again proves himself one of the finest nonfiction writers we have.
Maxine Beneba Clarke, Author of The Hate Race
Urgent and compelling ... A mix of essay, journalism, history and biography [that is] engaging, original and insightful ... Fascinating, instructive and full of astute observations on race and politics, No Way But This: In Search of Paul Robeson will appeal to readers passionate about social justice and the history of 20th-century political movements.
Books + Publishing
Jeff Sparrow's No Way But This is a major addition to what we know of, and how we may know, this 20th-century giant ... It’s impossible to do justice in a brief space to such a life of commitment – or to suggest just what a compelling narrative Sparrow has made of it. He has aptly brought this giant to the attention of later generations.
Sydney Morning Herald
Paul Robeson was truly a giant of a man, in physical stature, courage, intellect, and creative endeavour. With this intimate and engaging portrait, we are able to gain an invaluable insight into a major political and artistic talent of the twentieth century. Ours is a time requiring inspiration, affiliation, and solidarity. Paul Robeson surely provides the inspiration we desperately need.
Tony Birch, Author of Blood and Ghost River
An amazing story I didn’t even know I didn't know. Jeff pulls us through the grubby terrain of race, Jesus, prison, and fascism.
John Safran, Author of Murder in Mississippi
Part journalist, part historian, Jeff Sparrow writes with loving discernment about a remarkable man and the forces that shaped his unmistakable voice. [This is] a gripping story of courage and commitment, told by one of our finest chroniclers of the human capacity for tenderness amid the squalor. Sparrow takes us on a global journey, revealing that beyond an old man and a river, there lies a deep valley of hatred and hope, sadness and solidarity.
Claire Wright, Stella Prize-winning Author of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka
Brilliantly told by Jeff Sparrow, Paul Robeson's story is compelling and important. No Way But This is a challenge to history and a reminder of what unites us.
Owen Jones, Guardian Columnist and Author of The Establishment
This is an inspiring biography of a really remarkable human being.
Johann Hari, Author of Chasing the Scream
Both moving and illuminating ... It is timely that in an era when there are more African-American men in jail or on parole in the United States than there were men in bondage at the height of slavery and when the Black Lives Matter movement is gathering momentum that there is a book to remind us about this astonishing individual and the political climate in which he used his popular voice to highlight systemic inequality.
Readings
A great book about a fascinating man. Read it and be inspired!
Srdja Popovic, Author of Blueprint for Revolution
An illuminating look at the life of a frankly remarkable man.
The AU Review,Five Books You Need to Read this Month
Remarkable ... It revives Robeson as a model of integrity and bravery – someone who, despite the precarity of his social position, risked his life and career for the ideas of workers’ rights, black liberation, anti-colonialism and international socialism. As Robeson’s story unfolds, the ghosts of past struggles unite with those who fight for political emancipation around the world today. By naming and connecting these diverse groups, Sparrow opens a space for a new public to be formed. Robeson, with his integrity, struggles and flaws, provides a powerful model for the kinds of political action we so desperately need.
Sydney Review of Books
Told sensitively and often movingly by a writer awake to the nuances of the political and social contexts in which Robeson moved, this is a story that reverberates today, full of tragedy but also exhilaration and promise. It is the story we need to hear.
Overland
Sparrow's lively portrait should restore a little of the fame the great man deserves.
Weekend Herald(Auckland)
Book of the week … [A] conscientious and often painful biography.
Daily Mail
Robeson’s character, art, principled politics and legacy of extraordinary courage all come vividly to life in No Way But This. There are many worthy books about the life of Paul Robeson, but this is one not to be missed.
Red Flag
A thoughtful, sensitive and respectful examination of the life and work of Paul Robeson ... More than the biography of one remarkable man, the book is a testament to Robeson’s conviction that despite it all, there was no way but to struggle for a better world.
Green Left Weekly
A splendid account of this fabulous figure ... This is an intriguing life, beautifully realised by a fine writer, and should be widely read and appreciated.
The Minder
The book gripped me. I read excerpts to The Spouse over breakfast; I neglected the ironing, forgot to water the vegetable patch ... Now that’s a book well worth reading!
ANZ LitLovers
An entertaining, informative and important book.
Kit de Waal, Author of My Name is Leon,
Sparrow has eloquently portrayed Robeson as a giant of a man who was prepared to kill off his career for his political beliefs. He emphasises that past struggles should inform today; we need not just inspiration to act but affiliation to organise and solidarity to withstand.
Morning Star Online
Absolutely wonderful.
Simon Callow
Sparrow’s account not only soars, it sings.
Sight and Sound
Jeff Sparrow is the latest biographer to tackle this riveting subject and he ably demonstrates how journalistic method can contribute to historical understanding.
TLS
Sparrow has made a worthy effort, joining other recent work, including Jordan Goodman’s Paul Robeson: A Watched Man, and Gerald Horne’s Paul Robeson: the Artist as Revolutionary. Each is worth reading.
Paul Buhle
Kruso by Lutz Seiler
If communism’s final moments are an island of time, Kruso is a bottled message washed up from those distant shores. A strange journey, Seiler’s novel subscribes to island rules, with historicity suspended above and between fevered dreams of perfect community and beguiling freedom.
Letitia Montgomery-Rodgers, Forword Reviews
An outstanding debut novel … Beautifully phrased and paced, Tess Lewis’s translation delights on every page as she conveys “the contagious sense of liberation” that blows through Mr Seiler’s mesmeric novel.
The Economist
[A}n exciting, expansive work of German literature; it may well prove one of the major novels of the 21st century.
Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times
A seamless English translation by Tess Lewis … Readers might doubt whether Robinson Crusoe can work in a German setting — they might even feel affronted that it’s been attempted — but Seiler’s novel springs from his own experience in a way that underlines the universality of the tale.
Newsweek
An enigmatic Bildungsroman, adapting the literary trope of the island refuge to the dying days of East German socialism … English readers can delight in this prizewinning translation from Tess Lewis, which renders Seiler’s vision in prose of startling clarity.
The Saturday Age
Kruso [is] the first worthy successor to Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain to appear in contemporary German literature.
Der Spiegel
This novel set in the historic summer of 1989 is a lighthouse, not an ivory tower.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Seiler’s novel Kruso shows what German literature can accomplish when it’s fully worked.
Welt Am Sonntag
That rare treasure — a great novel.
Postdamer Neueste Nachrichten
A multi-layered philosophical novel that poses a major question to us and to our time: How is freedom possible?
Die Zeit
Lutz Seiler’s writings trace their roots to Uwe Johnson’s poetry and reflect the German past, present and future beyond the surface of “simple truths” … In Kruso, Lutz Seiler visualises the hopes and constraints of a whole country by means of one singular place, Hiddensee, during one short period of time, June to November 1989.
From the statement of the UWE-Johnson-Prize 2014 Jury
Seiler delivers a debut novel with which he manages to catapult himself into the front rank of this country’s authors.
Die Zeit
A special book that will endure.
Frankfurter Rundschau
A sublime book that is far more than just the novel of the year.
Deutschlandradio Kultur
This novel has historical-philosophical dimensions: it is a significant contemplation on different forms of freedom as well as a wonderfully poetic exaltation of a concrete historical event — a truly great book.
3SAT Kulturzeit
Seiler’s novel is lyrical and powerful in its eloquence. Already he is to be counted among the great contemporary German literary figures.
WDR 5
The poetic language and careful expression to the prose in Kruso make for an arresting read too, slightly odd and off-beat, but quite compelling. It's also a novel of big themes — freedom (personal and political), longing (in all its gradations), and mourning, in particular — and the narrative's general sense of drift, with these bobbling up constantly but never overwhelming the story, is particularly well done. A fine, big novel.
M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review
Lutz Seiler, winner of the English PEN Award and German Book Prize, brings a tumultuous debut novel to an English-speaking audience. Set on a bohemian Baltic coastal island, this novel of a cult of personality during the last days of the Soviet occupation of the GDR grips readers just as Kruso’s charisma grips our protagonist.
World Literature Today
Letitia Montgomery-Rodgers, Forword Reviews
An outstanding debut novel … Beautifully phrased and paced, Tess Lewis’s translation delights on every page as she conveys “the contagious sense of liberation” that blows through Mr Seiler’s mesmeric novel.
The Economist
[A}n exciting, expansive work of German literature; it may well prove one of the major novels of the 21st century.
Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times
A seamless English translation by Tess Lewis … Readers might doubt whether Robinson Crusoe can work in a German setting — they might even feel affronted that it’s been attempted — but Seiler’s novel springs from his own experience in a way that underlines the universality of the tale.
Newsweek
An enigmatic Bildungsroman, adapting the literary trope of the island refuge to the dying days of East German socialism … English readers can delight in this prizewinning translation from Tess Lewis, which renders Seiler’s vision in prose of startling clarity.
The Saturday Age
Kruso [is] the first worthy successor to Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain to appear in contemporary German literature.
Der Spiegel
This novel set in the historic summer of 1989 is a lighthouse, not an ivory tower.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Seiler’s novel Kruso shows what German literature can accomplish when it’s fully worked.
Welt Am Sonntag
That rare treasure — a great novel.
Postdamer Neueste Nachrichten
A multi-layered philosophical novel that poses a major question to us and to our time: How is freedom possible?
Die Zeit
Lutz Seiler’s writings trace their roots to Uwe Johnson’s poetry and reflect the German past, present and future beyond the surface of “simple truths” … In Kruso, Lutz Seiler visualises the hopes and constraints of a whole country by means of one singular place, Hiddensee, during one short period of time, June to November 1989.
From the statement of the UWE-Johnson-Prize 2014 Jury
Seiler delivers a debut novel with which he manages to catapult himself into the front rank of this country’s authors.
Die Zeit
A special book that will endure.
Frankfurter Rundschau
A sublime book that is far more than just the novel of the year.
Deutschlandradio Kultur
This novel has historical-philosophical dimensions: it is a significant contemplation on different forms of freedom as well as a wonderfully poetic exaltation of a concrete historical event — a truly great book.
3SAT Kulturzeit
Seiler’s novel is lyrical and powerful in its eloquence. Already he is to be counted among the great contemporary German literary figures.
WDR 5
The poetic language and careful expression to the prose in Kruso make for an arresting read too, slightly odd and off-beat, but quite compelling. It's also a novel of big themes — freedom (personal and political), longing (in all its gradations), and mourning, in particular — and the narrative's general sense of drift, with these bobbling up constantly but never overwhelming the story, is particularly well done. A fine, big novel.
M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review
Lutz Seiler, winner of the English PEN Award and German Book Prize, brings a tumultuous debut novel to an English-speaking audience. Set on a bohemian Baltic coastal island, this novel of a cult of personality during the last days of the Soviet occupation of the GDR grips readers just as Kruso’s charisma grips our protagonist.
World Literature Today
Kruso by Lutz Seiler, Tess Lewis
Serene, mysterious and quietly profound … a reflection on the recent past that somehow feels like the most urgent kind of prophecy.
Weekend Australian
An enigmatic Bildungsroman, adapting the literary trope of the island refuge to the dying days of East German socialism … English readers can delight in this prizewinning translation from Tess Lewis, which renders Seiler’s vision in prose of startling clarity.
The Saturday Age
The German poet Lutz Seiler has brought all his art, linguistic ease, flair for dazzling images and master of what he describes as ‘the nervous systems of memory’ to this extraordinary debut novel … Kruso is an exciting, expansive work of German literature; it may well prove one of the major novels of the 21st century.
Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times
An outstanding debut novel … Beautifully phrased and paced, Tess Lewis’s translation delights on every page as she conveys “the contagious sense of liberation” that blows through Mr Seiler’s mesmeric novel.
The Economist
This novel set in the historic summer of 1989 is a lighthouse, not an ivory tower.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Seiler’s novel Kruso shows what German literature can accomplish when it’s fully worked.
Welt Am Sonntag
That rare treasure — a great novel.
Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten
A multi-layered philosophical novel that poses a major question to us and to our time: How is freedom possible?
Die Zeit
Lutz Seiler’s writings trace their roots to Uwe Johnson’s poetry and reflect the German past, present and future beyond the surface of “simple truths” [...] In Kruso, Lutz Seiler visualises the hopes and constraints of a whole country by means of one singular place, Hiddensee, during one short period of time, June to November 1989.
From the statement of the UWE-Johnson-Prize 2014 Jury
Kruso [is] the first worthy successor to Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain to appear in contemporary German literature.
Der Spiegel
Seiler delivers a debut novel with which he manages to catapult himself into the front rank of this country’s authors.
Die Zeit
A special book that will endure.
Frankenfurter Rundschau
A sublime book that is far more than just the novel of the year.
Deutschlandradio Kultur
This novel has historical-philosophical dimensions: it is a significant contemplation on different forms of freedom as well as a wonderfully poetic exaltation of a concrete historical event — a truly great book.
3SAT Kulturzeit
Seiler’s novel is lyrical and powerful in its eloquence. Already he is to be counted among the great contemporary German literary figures.
WDR 5
A seamless English translation by Tess Lewis … Readers might doubt whether Robinson Crusoe can work in a German setting — they might even feel affronted that it’s been attempted — but Seiler’s novel springs from his own experience in a way that underlines the universality of the tale.
Maggie Ferguson, Newsweek
If communism’s final moments are an island of time, Kruso is a bottled message washed up from those distant shores. A strange journey, Seiler’s novel subscribes to island rules, with historicity suspended above and between fevered dreams of perfect community and beguiling freedom.
Letitia Montgomery-Rogers, Foreword Reviews
The poetic language and careful expression to the prose in Kruso make for an arresting read too, slightly odd and off-beat, but quite compelling. It's also a novel of big themes — freedom (personal and political), longing (in all its gradations), and mourning, in particular — and the narrative's general sense of drift, with these bobbling up constantly but never overwhelming the story, is particularly well done. A fine, big novel.
M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review
Lutz Seiler, winner of the English PEN Award and German Book Prize, brings a tumultuous debut novel to an English-speaking audience. Set on a bohemian Baltic coastal island, this novel of a cult of personality during the last days of the Soviet occupation of the GDR grips readers just as Kruso’s charisma grips our protagonist.
World Literature Today
Weekend Australian
An enigmatic Bildungsroman, adapting the literary trope of the island refuge to the dying days of East German socialism … English readers can delight in this prizewinning translation from Tess Lewis, which renders Seiler’s vision in prose of startling clarity.
The Saturday Age
The German poet Lutz Seiler has brought all his art, linguistic ease, flair for dazzling images and master of what he describes as ‘the nervous systems of memory’ to this extraordinary debut novel … Kruso is an exciting, expansive work of German literature; it may well prove one of the major novels of the 21st century.
Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times
An outstanding debut novel … Beautifully phrased and paced, Tess Lewis’s translation delights on every page as she conveys “the contagious sense of liberation” that blows through Mr Seiler’s mesmeric novel.
The Economist
This novel set in the historic summer of 1989 is a lighthouse, not an ivory tower.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Seiler’s novel Kruso shows what German literature can accomplish when it’s fully worked.
Welt Am Sonntag
That rare treasure — a great novel.
Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten
A multi-layered philosophical novel that poses a major question to us and to our time: How is freedom possible?
Die Zeit
Lutz Seiler’s writings trace their roots to Uwe Johnson’s poetry and reflect the German past, present and future beyond the surface of “simple truths” [...] In Kruso, Lutz Seiler visualises the hopes and constraints of a whole country by means of one singular place, Hiddensee, during one short period of time, June to November 1989.
From the statement of the UWE-Johnson-Prize 2014 Jury
Kruso [is] the first worthy successor to Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain to appear in contemporary German literature.
Der Spiegel
Seiler delivers a debut novel with which he manages to catapult himself into the front rank of this country’s authors.
Die Zeit
A special book that will endure.
Frankenfurter Rundschau
A sublime book that is far more than just the novel of the year.
Deutschlandradio Kultur
This novel has historical-philosophical dimensions: it is a significant contemplation on different forms of freedom as well as a wonderfully poetic exaltation of a concrete historical event — a truly great book.
3SAT Kulturzeit
Seiler’s novel is lyrical and powerful in its eloquence. Already he is to be counted among the great contemporary German literary figures.
WDR 5
A seamless English translation by Tess Lewis … Readers might doubt whether Robinson Crusoe can work in a German setting — they might even feel affronted that it’s been attempted — but Seiler’s novel springs from his own experience in a way that underlines the universality of the tale.
Maggie Ferguson, Newsweek
If communism’s final moments are an island of time, Kruso is a bottled message washed up from those distant shores. A strange journey, Seiler’s novel subscribes to island rules, with historicity suspended above and between fevered dreams of perfect community and beguiling freedom.
Letitia Montgomery-Rogers, Foreword Reviews
The poetic language and careful expression to the prose in Kruso make for an arresting read too, slightly odd and off-beat, but quite compelling. It's also a novel of big themes — freedom (personal and political), longing (in all its gradations), and mourning, in particular — and the narrative's general sense of drift, with these bobbling up constantly but never overwhelming the story, is particularly well done. A fine, big novel.
M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review
Lutz Seiler, winner of the English PEN Award and German Book Prize, brings a tumultuous debut novel to an English-speaking audience. Set on a bohemian Baltic coastal island, this novel of a cult of personality during the last days of the Soviet occupation of the GDR grips readers just as Kruso’s charisma grips our protagonist.
World Literature Today