Reading Allowed
True Stories and Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library
$28.46
- Paperback
320 pages
- Release Date
30 January 2018
Summary
‘Paling’s deftly drawn vignettes are frequently funny, sometimes sad and occasionally troubling … Borrow a copy from your local library, if you still have one. Better yet, buy it’ Neil Armstrong, Mail on Sunday
‘Not only was I captivated by Paling’s lovingly wrought series of pen portraits, I was amused, moved and - perhaps most surprising of all - uplifted’ John Preston, Daily Mail
‘There are many detractors who question…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781472124722 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1472124723 |
| Author: | Chris Paling |
| Publisher: | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Imprint: | Constable |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 320 |
| Release Date: | 30 January 2018 |
| Weight: | 220g |
| Dimensions: | 196mm x 128mm x 24mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
Paling’s deftly drawn vignettes are frequently funny, sometimes sad and occasionally troubling … Borrow a copy from your local library, if you still have one. Better yet, buy it
Paling’s deftly drawn vignettes are frequently funny, sometimes sad and occasionally troubling … Borrow a copy from your local library, if you still have one. Better yet, buy it - Mail on Sunday
Not only was I captivated by Paling’s lovingly wrought series of pen portraits, I was amused, moved and - perhaps most surprising of all - uplifted - Daily MailThere are many detractors who question whether libraries are still relevant in the digital age. Paling’s keenly and kindly observed account of his encounters offers a gentle insight as to why they still are - Sunday TimesRestorative, gently British feel of these pages … It’s fun, it’s breezy … and it’s full of Great British Quirk. It made me feel at home, and I recommend it strongly - The Book BagMuch of the dialogue is worthy of Alan Bennett - SpectatorPaling’s unflashy, plain-speaking and observant style is engaging - Sunday HeraldPaling is an observant writer, with a brilliant ear for dialogue, and he sketches the eccentric cast of employees and customers perfectly. Although there is humour here, there is also pathos, as the library dwindles to become the haunt of the elderly and the homeless - a snapshot of people and institutions on the margins of the digital age, a poignant record of the unconnected life - TabletMinutely observed cast … It is pinpoint-specific, as personal as a fingerprint or a reading record … The characters here lift these interlinked vignettes into something altogether richer - Times Literary SupplementAbout The Author
Chris Paling
Chris Paling’s first work of non-fiction. Chris’s fiction has been praised by Nick Hornby, Jonathan Coe, Giles Foden, Liz Jensen, Shena Mackay and many others. Chris also writes for the weekend papers and is a regular contributor to the Sunday Telegraph Travel section - and he has recently embarked on playwriting.
His broadcasting career spans radio and television. An acclaimed radio documentary maker, he co-conceived The Village, credited as the first ‘real-life’ soap. Set in the Hampshire village of Bentley, The Village ran for over 100 episodes on Radio 4 before transferring to television. A further hundred or so episodes were then broadcast on ITV and sold around Europe. The format was developed by the presenter Nigel Farrell into An Island Parish, which still scores highly on BBC 2. For the final 11 years of Chris’s Radio 4 career he produced Midweek with Libby Purves.
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