The Swimmer: The Wild Life of Roger Deakin by Patrick Barkham Hardcover Book

Description: The Swimmer by Patrick Barkham The definitive biography of Roger Deakin, beloved author of cult classic WaterlogRoger Deakin is best known for his modern classic of nature writing, Waterlog, which frog-kicked the wild swimming movement into existence with wit, politics and poetry.But he was not simply a dazzling writer and eccentric Englishman. He took his counterculture to the countryside in the 1970s and rebuilt a 16th century farmhouse from its oak beams up. He turned to self-sufficiency, teaching and environmentalism. He became a music impresario and made films, radio programmes and hundreds of friends from all classes - aristocrats, poachers, actors, builders, musicians, tearaways, from city and from town. He was a polymath, an enthusiast, an adventurer, a romantic and rebel.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. Delving deep into Roger Deakins library of words, Patrick Barkham draws from notebooks, diaries, letters, recordings, published work and early drafts, to conjure his voice back to glorious life in these pages.Patrick Barkhams biography follows Roger Deakins tree of life, from roots to fruits, revealing the inner life of an extraordinary man. FORMAT Hardcover CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Patrick Barkham is an award-winning author and natural history writer for the Guardian. His books include The Butterfly Isles, Badgerlands, Islander and Wild Child. He is President of Norfolk Wildlife Trust and lives in Norfolk with his family. Review 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 Deakins 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 *Barkhams book succeeds in evoking a fascinating, creative, complicated man * Times Literary Supplement *Reading Patrick Barkhams 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 Rogers own voice to sing through and with Patricks - 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 Deakins 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 Deakins 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 * Details ISBN0241471478 Author Patrick Barkham Publisher Penguin Books Ltd Year 2023 ISBN-10 0241471478 ISBN-13 9780241471470 Format Hardcover Imprint Hamish Hamilton Ltd Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Publication Date 2023-05-25 UK Release Date 2023-05-25 Subtitle The Wild Life of Roger Deakin Pages 400 Alternative 9780241471487 DEWEY 828.91409 Audience General NZ Release Date 2023-08-07 AU Release Date 2023-08-07 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:143167027;

Price: 34.64 AUD

Location: Melbourne

End Time: 2025-01-17T03:45:19.000Z

Shipping Cost: 12.34 AUD