The Swimmer

As much a biography of a generation as of an individual . . . Barkham conjures the life of the wild swimming champion and author of Waterlog in a bravura act of creative memoir . . . a rich, strange and compelling work of creative memoir that beautifully honours and elevates the life and work of its subject -- Alex Preston * Observer *
[A] remarkable book, an extraordinary insight . . . The Swimmer is an unconventional biography of an unconventional person . . . A tapestry-like life of the influential nature writer -- Amy-Jane Beer * Guardian *
Barkham honours Deakin’s protean nature by collaging together often wildly contradictory testimonies from friends, colleagues and lovers. It manages, as few biographies do, to convey how impossible a person is to pin down, perhaps especially once as mercurial as Deakin * New Statesman, 'Books of the Year' *
Barkham's book succeeds in evoking a fascinating, creative, complicated man * Times Literary Supplement *
Reading Patrick Barkham's brilliant biography of this fascinating man, I felt both that I was meeting again the Roger Deakin I knew - and also encountering a Roger I never met . . . The narrative form Patrick has chosen allows Roger's own voice to sing through and with Patrick's - and also introduces us to a chorus of voices, memories and perspectives of those who knew Roger over the course of his wild and various life * Robert Macfarlane *
The Swimmer is biography at its most inventive, mixing Deakin’s own writings with friends’ memories and improvisational add-ons to celebrate a bold and surprising life -- Blake Morrison * Observer *
Vivid . . . a magical kind of post-mortem autobiography . . . The Swimmer is a wonderful testament to a unique and very charming man * Daily Mail *
Deakin has become the unofficial patron saint of wild swimmers . . . Barkham mines Deakin's notebooks and interviews his family, friends and lovers to create this beautifully immersive biography * Financial Times, 'What to Read this Summer' *
Deakin was an extraordinary man in an extraordinary moment * Times *
A long-awaited biography of the late, great writer, environmentalist and moat-dipper . . . This is a mightily accomplished biography . . . a skilful piece of theatre -- Sue Brooks * Caught by the River *