Thus, had I not been recommended Tempest’s debut – a story of three friends leaving London to escape dead-end jobs and drug dealers – it’s quite unlikely I would have chosen it for myself. However, just as reading the BBC Top 100 taught me many times over, and indeed, just as heeding Sian’s recommendation taught me; stepping outside of one’s comfort zone often has its benefits. An afterword by the author notes that some of the stories in the novel began life in her play Wasted. A sense of this comes through in the book, which reads more as a series of character-driven set pieces than a cohesive narrative. Tempest is a talent for sure, but one who has not reined herself in sufficiently for the novel form. With all fiction it begins in truth. The best fiction begins in some moment that feels so real and right with you that it sends you to try and make sense of it through writing. The setting, for example - South London - is so huge for me internally; it’s the place I grew up. A story of accidental adventure and loss in what feels like London's boiling crucible of race, class and sexuality ... This novel requires giving oneself over to its linguistic world ... It seems not just to describe a contemporary world but chart the migratory and class movements that has led it to its current state * Andrew McMillan, Independent * This is what we’ve grown up with. Our legacy is this culture of greed and it makes us believe we can’t believe in anything. We don’t trust those who govern for us.

Kae Tempest ' s critically acclaimed debut novel, the literary companion to their Mercury-Prize nominated album Everybody Down, takes us into the beating heart of the capital in this multi-generational tale of drugs, desire and belonging But that’s not to say you can’t approach your local planners to ask what their stance is on materials. mijn e reader is helaas de meest ontrouwe reisgezel ooit, ze heeft het na 'met de fiets naar rome' opnieuw begeven tot heden. de hostel waar ik nu verblijf heeft een rekje met vergeten of achtergelaten boeken en tussen alle Portugese zat 1 Engelse parel naar de hand van Kae Tempest. Op zich al speciaal om een boek te lezen van iemand die je enkel kent als zanger/spokenword/poëet en daardoor droeg ik het boek vaak luidop zingend voor. het deed me denken aan 'een klein leven' van Hanya Yanagihara omdat je een gelijkaardige liefde voor de rauwe harde levendige stad voelt, in dit geval Zuid-Londen, en ook zijn er al die verschillende perspectieven, mensen met een rugzak en/of mensen gebukt onder de net niet ondraaglijke zwaarte van het leven, maar nooit zo heftig als bij Hanya Yanagihara. ik denk dat het ook de eerste keer was dat een queer romance op papier voor mij zo herkenbaar en aftastend en zacht en alles was, Tempest's words really soar from the grime of London ... Smart, lyrical observations of city life won me over ... Tempest proves her witty, unique take on the world **** * Stylist *But this heightened, hyperbolic style continues for another couple of chapters which are theoretically establishing said characters. Ok, we're witnessing a lightning-bolt, love at first sight moment between two strangers in a club, but one or both girls are endlessly melting, exploding, bursting into flames or squeezing their bones out of their skin every other paragraph. These overwrought similes and metaphors don't feel remotely earned and are, frankly, more than a little cringey. As a novel, TBTBTH very much reads like a work that originated in a different artform by someone who - however accomplished she may be in other fields - is demonstrably in need of far harsher editing than perhaps her reputation allows. There was a more optimistic use of the imagination to come up with alternatives to the way that things were. There was belief in a movement for change. I say we - I don’t mean to speak for anyone other than myself or my characters - there’s just this feeling of disillusionment. The experiences you write about feel like they’re very familiar to you. How autobiographical is this material? I used to get frustrated asking, 'Why am I writing journalistic-style entries when I should be writing a play or a novel?' I felt so urgently I needed to make my mark and get moving, I was distraught about all this writing I was generating that wasn’t a novel.

A lager-stained, rain-soaked love letter to London ... Flows like a prose poem about drugs, dual carriageways and desire * Red * And, I think it's fair to say, that she has wowed, stunned and surprised everyone she has talked to. It was this jarring transition from poet to president that settled my opinion of this book: in the light of this world, it is a truly good thing. I think what we’ve learned - and it’s sad to say - is that we can’t trust anything. Nothing will change. The things that make the world go round are beyond anyone’s control because it’s all about corporate control and profit before people.

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When the idea came that merited the form and I finally sat down to write, I realised I had been developing my voice for years, and every single scrap I’d scoured with undisciplined scribbles was really helpful in making me feel at ease with sentence structure, prose and paragraphs. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-01-01 14:03:31 Bookplateleaf 0002 Boxid IA40280114 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdiscabled External-identifier

An eternal optimist, for me, reading is often about escapism, and I love nothing better than whiling away an afternoon indulging in nostalgic literature by Rosamund Pilcher and Enid Blyton – whose worlds are slightly more rosey than reality, where strife and hardship are non-existent. To change the sex of a main character seems like a pretty bold move, but it pushes the reader to understanding that sometimes sex is less important than gender. If anything, the change adds a new element for our characters to dance through, and dance they do. I’d love to know whether Tempest always knew Pete had a sister. Soaring … Tempest's flair for language is tempered by their sense of rhythm and pace … Deeply affecting: cinematic in scope; touching in its empathic humanity … Tempest's voice – by turns raging and tender – never falters' New York Times The highly anticipated debut novel from Kae Tempest--acclaimed poet, playwright, rapper, and recording artist--proves their talent to be boundless and unstoppable.It makes you think about life and what the purpose of it is. It's very touching and honest. There's a rawness to it that had me captivated and I couldn't put it down. Angst-ridden lyricism captures the energy and loneliness of London life in this dizzying, genre-busting debut ... A remarkable piece of writing, filled with verbal echoes and half-rhymes ... [One reads] for the pinpoint evocation of a milieu, its texture and contours, all delivered with an intensely gathered and focused energy ... Transformative * Guardian * To add form and character to what can sometimes be a mass expanse of flat wall there are design details that you can incorporate.