John Burnside was among the most acclaimed writers of his generation. His novels, short stories, poetry and memoirs won numerous awards, including the Geoffrey Faber Memorial, Saltire Scottish Book of the Year and, in 2023, he received the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime's achievement in literature. In 2011 Black Cat Bone won both the Forward and the T.S. Eliot Prizes for poetry. He died in 2024.
A marvellously meandering, digressive study of the nature of love… Burnside has a lovely garrulousness that is distinctively his own… Exact and enthralling. -- Tessa Hadley * Guardian * [An] indirect, peculiar, consuming memoir… Full of wonders. -- Kate Kellaway * Observer * A wise and wryly glum autobiography written in a highly rewarding, pared-back style. -- Martin Hemming * Sunday Times * Captivating and unsettling… A work of scalding honesty. -- Sophie Elmhirst * Financial Times * Intoxicating… Remarkable… A long-player that resonates long after the stylus has lifted. -- Brian Morton * Glasgow Sunday Herald *