The Mercy Boys - Softcover
The Mercy Boys are four Dundee men who meet every day at their local pub and drink themselves into temporary oblivion. Junior is a fastidious depressive who has been pretending for years that his bedridden wife is already dead. His friend Sconnie traverses the country on random trains, in search of the last good night, while Alan lives in a kind of a dream, haunted by a neighbour's child who thinks she is a voodoo priestess, and pursued by a sadistic madman, who believes the secret message of the gospels is that everything female must be destroyed. Their fantasy world falls apart when Sconnie drifts into a bizarre trap, and Rob, the last of the four, commits an act of brutal and senseless violence. In his second novel, John Burnside explores the 'by-way to Hell' that Bunyan describes in Pilgrim's Progress, a road that descends relentlessly into murder, madness and ritual sacrifice. This is a hell inhabited by men, the hell that Dostoevsky calls 'the inability to love'. It is only at the end, when everything is lost, that Alan is permitted a fleeting and provisional taste of redemption, in a grotesque moment of absurd and impossible love.
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Review:
"["The Mercy Boys"] takes place in Dundee, following the lives of four middle-aged men who drink far too much in a pub called the Mercy...profoundly disturbing." - "The Times""A powerful unsentimental account of men on the bleaker side of black." - "Observer"
About the Author:
John Burnisde was born in 1955 and now lives in Fife. He has published six collections of poetry and has won a number of awards, including the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was selected as one of the twenty Best Young British Poets in 1994. His first novel, The Dumb House, was published n 1997.
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- PublisherJonathan Cape Ltd
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0224050095
- ISBN 13 9780224050098
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages272
- Rating
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The Mercy Boys
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(1999)
ISBN 10: 0224050095
ISBN 13: 9780224050098
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003753792
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The Mercy Boys
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ISBN 13: 9780224050098
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The Mercy Boys
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.7. Seller Inventory # G0224050095I5N00
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The Mercy Boys
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 41787879-75
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Book Description Trade Paperback Original. Condition: Fine. First Edition, First Printing. A novel by this Scottish writer. 265 pages. Seller Inventory # 20856
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The Mercy Boys
Published by
Jonathan Cape
(1999)
ISBN 10: 0224050095
ISBN 13: 9780224050098
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Softcover
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. Book is in Used-VeryGood condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain very limited notes and highlighting. Seller Inventory # 0224050095-2-3
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