The Brilliant & Forever
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Birlinn General
Published:10th Mar '16
Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date
On an island like no other, populated by writers, the annual Brilliant & Forever Festival is a much anticipated event; its participants a story away from either glory or infamy. This year, three best friends - two human, one alpaca - are chosen to compete, so victory is not only about reward.
This is a novel like no other; a wonderful, provocative tussle, a whip-cracking, energetic, laugh-out-loud satire on what we value in culture, and in our lives. And yet, written with exquisite warmth and empathy, it's also a moving exploration of integrity, friendship and belonging. It'll split your sides and break your heart.
'Ultimately, this is a book about how everyone has a story worth telling, and one worth hearing too. Terrific stuff'
* Independent *'MacNeil shows himself hugely adept at creating a series of distinctive literary voices, and skilfully weaves these various set-pieces into the main narrative before finally poleaxing the reader with a completely unexpected tragicomic final act . . . a wise warm-hearted meditation on the human condition'
* Scotsman *'Reading The Brilliant & Forever, I felt I was in possession of something really special, far bigger than the sum of its words… It is truly original & memorable, heartbreaking & funny, a bit like life itself...'
-- Vivian Bannerman, Main Street Trading Company'Full of wry detail and satirical flourish, a demonstration of virtuoso storytelling. MacNeil atomises the process of othering by which communities define themselves. All of that makes it sound overly serious, which it isn’t: MacNeil’s prose style keeps things light, lyrical, and funny'
* The Skinny *'Lyrical, satirical, funny and utterly, utterly heartbreaking'
* Heat Magazine *'It is a joy to read such an engaging, luminous novel'
* The Guardi- Short-listed for Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award 2016
ISBN: 9781846973376
Dimensions: 195mm x 130mm x 20mm
Weight: 247g
256 pages