A Preparation for Death - Softcover

Baxter, Greg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141048441 ISBN 13: 9780141048444

Publisher: Penguin, 2011

Synopsis

'Traditional autobiography is composed after the experience has passed. I wrote this book in the very panic of the experiences that inspired it ... '

In his early thirties, Greg Baxter found himself in a strange place. He hated his job, he was drinking excessively, he was sabotaging his most important relationships, and he was no longer doing the thing he cared about most: writing. Strangest of all, at this time he started teaching evening classes in creative writing - and his life changed utterly.

A Preparation for Death is a document of the chaos and discovery of that time and of the experiences that led Greg Baxter to that strange place - an extraordinarily intimate account of literary failure (and its consequences), personal decay, and redemption through reading, writing, and truth-telling. Studded with vivid, loving portraits of the people closest to him - his Austrian grandmother, who narrowly survived the Second World War; his mother and father, both described with heartbreakingly close attention; and his cousin Walter, whose own demons provide a striking counterpoint to the author's - it is above all a stunningly vivid and searching self-portrait: possibly the most honest book you'll ever read.

About this title

Review:

Brilliant and wonderfully original ... Yes, this is a book about drinking and shagging. But rarely have these things been written about so well (William Leith Literary Review)

Baxter is a serious, thoughtful writer, bent on emotional truth and artistry. He has written an unusual, provocative book. (Suzi Feay Financial Times)

The triumph is in the steely courage it takes to put a life down with such uncompromising clarity (Hugo Hamilton Irish Times)

Baxter tells his story with a captivating and rare honesty (Sunday Times)

Brave, honest and propulsive (Metro)

A sustained and gripping meditation on art and authenticity. ... one of those books about almost nothing, that manage to be about almost everything (James Lasdun Guardian)

Brilliant - he writes well about everything ... Could be a classic (Evening Standard)

From the Back Cover:

Greg Baxter's A Preparation for Death is an extraordinary memoir of literary failure, personal decay, and redemption through teaching, writing and truth-telling. Set against the backdrop of a city (Dublin) moving quickly from boom to bust, and featuring extraordinary portraits of the people closest to the author - his Austrian grandmother, who narrowly survived the Second World War; his mother and father, both described with heartbreakingly close attention; and his cousin Walter, whose own demons provide a striking counterpoint to the author's - this is above all a stunningly truthful self-portrait: possibly the most honest book you'll ever read.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0141048441
• ISBN 13: 9780141048444
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224