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Benjamin Myers was born in Durham in 1976. He is the author of ten books, including The Offing, which was an international bestseller and selected for the Radio 2 Book Club; The Gallows Pole, which won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction and was adapted for a BBC series by Shane Meadows with A24; Beastings which was awarded the Portico Prize for Literature, and Pig Iron which won the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize. He has also published non-fiction, poetry and crime novels and his journalism has appeared in publications including the Guardian, New Statesman, TLS, Caught by the River and many more. He lives in the Upper Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. benjaminmyerswriter.com / @BenMyers1
An entertaining tale of grit, fecklessness and Northern Soul ... reflects the author’s dedication to Northern stories, and his knack for making them come alive * DAILY TELEGRAPH * Vivid as a Polaroid snapshot ... A charming hymn to the power of music ... A book of affection that takes joy in its main characters and their passions, about pain, loss and the possibility of redemption * OBSERVER * Myers is the laureate of friendship, a chronicler of unexpected, transformative connection ... So how beautiful to read something so affirming and full of light, and to have music, ephemeral as it might be, presented as precious and transformational -- WENDY ERSKINE Lovely to spend time with two characters I really wished could be real ... A book of rare charm by a writer who understands the magic of music -- IAN RANKIN A book that captures just why music is so magical. Music pulses throughout a novel that, in part, reads like a love letter to the timeless American classics of Chess Records, Stax and Motown ... If you want a heartwarming summer read, I definitely suggest you give Rare Singles a spin * independent.co.uk * A story that takes joy in its characters and their passions ... Myers’s descriptions of the northern soul scene carry the passion of a true believer * GUARDIAN, Book of the day * A meditation on friendship, community and the power of music to unite and uplift * IRISH TIMES * A celebration of the redemptive power of music. In essence, the novel is a love song to love songs … Those who enjoy a love story set to a fantastic soundtrack should embrace this nostalgic trip to Scarborough. If David Nicholls and Nick Hornby had a literary love child, this book would be it * IRISH TIMES * Following the Goldsmiths-winning Cuddy, a tale of soul music and second chances, as a washed-up American singer meets a Scarborough woman * GUARDIAN, Books to look out for in 2024 * This is a story about kindness and warm hearts, but one told by way of acrid humour, irreverence and fizzy dialogue * IRISH INDEPENDENT * Some characters get under your skin, and Earlon ‘Bucky’ Bronco, an ageing addict who once had a hit record, is one of the most memorable I’ve come across in a long time. When he’s invited to a Northern Soul event in Scarborough, he meets downtrodden Dinah – his number one fan – and the two find hope in each other * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, 20 best books of the year * A poignant and soulful story that delves into the nuances of human experience through the power of music * GLAMOUR * Myers, a consummate storyteller, is in his element here; empathetic and generous * i paper * Warm, witty and unexpected, Rare Singles is that rare thing – a novel filled with truth and tenderness and genuine humanity. The book you didn’t know you need -- BOBBY PALMER, author of Isaac and the Egg Pulses, not with the pounding beats of Northern Soul, but with the shifting rhythms of lives lived, moving from stasis to flux * THE CRACK * An absolute banger * RED * A nostalgic tale of love, loss, friendship and music * RADIO TIMES * People, you’re going to love this. A beautiful vignette of redemption, loss, faded seaside glamour and Northern Soul -- MAT OSMAN Scarborough’s Northern Soul scene is the setting for Rare Singles by the Durham-born Benjamin Myers, who won the 2023 Goldsmiths Prize * NEW STATESMAN, 2024: The year in fiction * Returns Myers to his past as a music journalist, telling a warmly nostalgic tale of northern soul and unlikely friendship in Scarborough. The great but forgotten Bucky Bronco’s visit to the Yorkshire coast is handled with Myers’s customary humour and generosity of spirit. * GUARDIAN, Fiction to look out for in 2024 * Praise for Benjamin Myers: One of our finest, and most deftly imaginative, writers * I NEWS * What a radical thing, these days, to have written a book so full of warmth and kindness ... Gorgeous -- MAX PORTER A writer of extraordinary and incandescent talent -- ALEX PRESTON Here is a strong, spiritual writer who sees and loves every dewdrop, old oak, soft little animal and buried sword, and offers them up to us like the precious treasures they are * THE TIMES * Book by book, over the past decade, Ben Myers has proved himself to be one of the most singular, moving and crucial voices of our times -- DAVID PEACE
