As If

A remarkable, indispensable book * Sunday Telegraph *
Blake Morrison attended the trial and has written a lyrical personal and intensely painful account of what he heard and felt... This is an important, and, in the true sense of the word, dreadful book. -- Beryl Bainbridge * Evening Standard *
Morrison's rich, deep humanity bestows upon this book a rare honesty of tone and of thought which the subject hugely deserves... out of his anxiety and compassion, he has produced a book which is both brave and bathed in mature wisdom. -- Brian Masters * Mail on Sunday *
This is a brave book, full of compassion and pity not just for the obvious people - the tiny victim, his parents - but for everyone involved, and underlying the struggle to discover 'why' is a compassion too for the state of childhood both remembered and observed. Beautifully written. -- Margaret Foster * Literary Review *
As If is the mature, considered and very personal response of one man to a tragic act. It is what our media should have given us... Morrison's voice is, as ever, eloquent with both passion and intelligence. -- A.L. Kennedy * Scotsman *
Very finely written... supple, densely allusive, glittering prose. -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Sunday Times *
Morrison brings to the case an uneasy conscience which insists that nothing is black and white... he exposes the inability of an adult tribunal to deal with such young defendants. -- Joan Smith * Financial Times *
Blake Morrison is interested in the fundamental question of why the two young boys killed another child... he has contributed greatly to the debate and his thought-provoking book should be read by all those who have a serious interest in the vital process of reform. * The Times *