The swimmer

Patrick Barkham

£10.99

In stock

Roger Deakin, author of the immortal ‘Waterlog’ and ‘Wildwood,’ was a man of unusually many parts. A born writer who nonetheless took decades to write his first book, Roger was also variously – and sometimes simultaneously – maverick ad-man, seller of stripped pine furniture on the Portobello Road, cider-maker, teacher, environmentalist, music promoter, and filmmaker. But above all he was the restorer of ancient Walnut Tree Farm in Suffolk, the heartland which he shared with a host of visitors, both animal and human, and wrote about – as he wrote about all natural life – with rare attention, intimacy, precision and poetry. Roger Deakin was unique, and so too is this joyful work of creative biography, told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues, lovers and neighbours.

ISBN: 9780241471487 Category:

Description

BEST BOOK OF 2023 ACCORDING TO THE NEWSTATESMAN AND OBSERVER

The Swimmer is a wonderful, original achievement; teeming with stories, glittering with images, and experimental in form and tone’ Robert Macfarlane

Roger Deakin, author of the immortal Waterlog, was a man of many parts: maverick ad-man, cider-maker, teacher, environmentalist, music promoter and filmmaker. But, above all, he was the restorer of ancient Walnut Tree Farm in Suffolk, the heartland where he wrote about all natural life – with rare attention, intimacy, precision and poetry.

Roger Deakin was unique, and so too is this joyful work of creative biography, told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues and lovers. Delving deep into Deakin’s library of words, Patrick Barkham draws from notebooks, diaries, letters and recordings to conjure his voice back to glorious life in these pages.

‘A rich, strange and compelling work of creative memoir that beautifully honours and elevates the life and work of its subject’ Alex Preston, Observer

Additional information

Weight 0.288 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 12.9 × 2.4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

280

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

508.092 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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