This Party's Got to Stop - Hardcover

Thomson, Rupert

3.88

241 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847081622 ISBN 13: 9781847081629

Publisher: Granta Books, 2010

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In his first venture into non-fiction, the celebrated novelist Rupert Thomson has produced one of the most extraordinary and unforgettable memoirs of recent years. On a warm, sunny day in July 1964, Thomson returned home from school to discover that his mother had died suddenly while playing tennis. Twenty years later, Thomson and his brothers get word that their father, who suffered chronic lung damage during the war, has died alone in hospital. In an attempt to come to terms both with their own loss and with their parents' legacies, the three brothers move back into their father's house. The time they spend in this decadent, anarchic commune leads to a rift between Thomson and his youngest brother, a rift that will not be addressed for more than two decades. "This Party's Got to Stop" works Thomson's memories into a powerful mosaic that reveals the fragility of family life in graphic and often heartbreaking detail. It is both a love letter to a lost brother and a chronicle of the murderousness and longing that can characterize blood relationships.

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Review:

`Very funny ... Rupert Thomson is such an attentive writer, and the quality of his attention brings the smallest incidents to life' --Hilary Mantel

`A completely brilliant book. Spikily funny, very dark and beautifully constructed'
--Rob Macfarlane

`Writing so desperately honest, so full of warmth and emotional daring, that you can't help but be pulled along' --Julie Myerson, Observer

'A Masterpiece, in its own modest way ... humanely funny, wryly anarchic, achingly poignant' --Time Out

`Darkly comic, disturbing, strange and ultimately humane, a memoir that discovers love and human kindness in the most unexpected places' --Sunday Telegraph

'Thomson tells his story brilliantly. His language is clear, his dialogue flawless ... a beautifully made literary artifact'
--Irish Times

About the Author:

Rupert Thomson is the author of eight highly acclaimed novels: Dreams of Leaving, The Five Gates of Hell, Air & Fire, The Insult, Soft, The Book of Revelation, Divided Kingdom and most recently, Death of a Murderer, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year Award and by World Book Day for the Book to Talk About 2008. He lives in Barcelona with his wife and daughter. This is his first book for Granta

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