A Normal Skin | Fiction - www.zzdbook.com

A Normal Skin

Jul 1, 2025 5:38 AM

Author:John Burnside

A Normal Skin

From memories of childhood and personal loss to the quiet celebration of a lover's navigational skills, from meditations on nature and sexuality to the fantasy world of aquarium fish, the poems in A NORMAL SKIN cover a wide range: lyrical in tone, and highly visual, they express once again the poet's sense of wonder at the world, while exploring some new preoccupations, including love and identity the tension between masking and self-revelation, and the writer's pleasure at returning to Scotland after a long absense. Most significant, however, is the continuing exploration of the relationship between self and other, and of the constant shifting of territory and boundaries, seen through the prism of love and home.

Reviews

A strong argument for making "reading more" one of your new Year's Resolutions

—— Metro

Not having enough time to read is a common complaint. But as this collection of essays by ten committed bibliophiles attempts to show, reading should be an activity as regular as brushing your teeth

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

Ebullient... Subtle... Inspiring and impassioned... This advocacy for intense reading is punchy and sharp

—— James Urquhart , Financial Times

A delightful collection of essays from luminaries of the book world... Some are personal, some political, but all are passionate

—— Good Housekeeping

Steve Earle writes like a shimmering neon angel

—— Kinky Friedman

Snapshots of brilliance

—— Metro

The former junkie and 'hardcore troubadour' has fought his demons and found God. Now he wants to show us how it's done

—— The Times

Earle seems to have little trouble expanding his range from a three-minute song to a 300-page narrative... And though the novel comes no closer to establishing the facts of Hank Williams's death, it certainly reveals a good deal of truth behind it

—— Alfred Hickling , Guardian

A witty, heartfelt story of hope, forgiveness and redemption

—— Booklist

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