Items related to Everything You Need
Synopsis
Everything You Need, the new novel by Scottish writer AL Kennedy, is the story of Nathan Staples, a self-sabotaging, depleted novelist who lives in a writer's colony where he dreams of reunion with his estranged wife, Maura, and his daughter, Mary, who he's not seen for 15 years. Nathan contrives to have Mary, now 19, invited to join the colony where he can mentor her literary progress without telling her who he is. Mary, an independent and open young woman, has been lovingly raised by an extraordinary gay couple and is more than able to withstand Nathan's bullying irascibility and possessive, confused desire. Kennedy brilliantly teases out the dilemmas and dramas of his subterfuge as he attempts to redeem himself. Nathan, Mary and the five other writers are beautifully drawn and their claustrophobic reliance on each other is touching, cruel and true. Kennedy has a delightful ability to stretch words to new effect. The expressive tenderness in her handling of love, loss and recovery is robust, bracing and sometimes quaint. As Nathan teaches Mary how to avoid his mistakes, how to welcome "the anxious flex of ready words", Kennedy is clever to steer clear of the hackneyed dangers of author-prodigy dynamics and swerves into murkier emotional scapes. Despite a baggy middle and an underwriting of Maura, this is a splendid epic tale of the tricky and terrifying demands of love and of writing itself. --Cherry Smyth Nathan Staples is a man in pain: consumed by loathing and love in roughly equal measure. He is sustained only by his devotion to his estranged wife and their teenage daughter, who thinks he's dead having not seen him for 15 years. His path to grace is strewn with obstacles and challenges.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From the Inside Flap
From the prodigiously talented A. L. Kennedy comes a flamboyantly stylish and fiercely emotional novel about fathers and daughters, creation and self-destruction, and love's paradoxical power to heal its most devastated victims. One such victim is Nathan Staples, a writer whose hilarious contempt for humanity is surpassed only by his corrosive self-loathing. Along with five equally dysfunctional colleagues Nathan lives on an island retreat off the coast of Wales, where he yearns for the daughter he lost years before. Now, in defiance of all his hopes, Mary Lamb-herself an aspiring writer-is about to join him as the seventh member of the colony.
As Nathan tortuously wins the trust of the child who has no inkling of their true relationship, Mary comes to a gradual understanding of her gift. In Everything You Need, A. L. Kennedy combines the mythic resonance of Arthurian legend with a sensibility as lyrical as it is profane.
From the Back Cover
“A writer rich in the humanity and warmth that seem at a premium in these bleak times.”
—Salman Rushdie
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherJonathan Cape
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0224044338
- ISBN 13 9780224044332
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages567
- Rating
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Published by
Vintage Publishing, United Kingdom, London, 1999
ISBN 10: 0224044338
ISBN 13: 9780224044332
Used
Paperback
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Nathan Staples is a man in pain- consumed by loathing and love in roughly equal measures. Frustrated and apalled by his life and the way he lives it, he is sustained only by his passionate devotion for his estranged wife, Maura, and their teenage daughter, Mary - whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years, and who thinks he's dead. When Nathan contrives to have Mary invited to the island where he lives in retreat he sets in motion the possibility of telling her he is her father, and becoming whole and complete and alive again. The path to grace, though is strewn with obstacles and challanges. The obsessive island-dwellers are trying to cure themselves through trial by extremity while, over in London, Nathan's editor, only friend and one link with his literary career - the brilliant, loyal, hopeless Jack - is drinking himself into the ground. And Mary herself is torn, emotionally, between familial love for the two uncles who brought her up in loco parentis, and the beginnings of a romantic, sexual life beyond. With this third novel, A. L. Kennedy has written a work of something approaching genius- its surface bright with turmoil and damage, its depths profound and turbulent. A brilliant. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003786674
Quantity: 2 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Published by
Jonathan Cape, London 03/06/1999, 1999
ISBN 10: 0224044338
ISBN 13: 9780224044332
Used
Hardcover
Seller: AwesomeBooks, Wallingford, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. . Seller Inventory # 7719-9780224044332
Quantity: 2 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Seller: HPB-Movies, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_412295442
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Seller: Reuseabook, Gloucester, GLOS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Seller Inventory # CHL2758205
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Published by
Jonathan Cape, London 03/06/1999, 1999
ISBN 10: 0224044338
ISBN 13: 9780224044332
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Bahamut Media, Reading, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780224044332
Quantity: 2 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Seller: Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. With very good dust jacket. Very Good hardcover with light shelfwear - NICE! Standard-sized. Seller Inventory # mon0000231434
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Published by
Cape, U.K., 1999
ISBN 10: 0224044338
ISBN 13: 9780224044332
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: The Bark of the Beech Tree, Depoe Bay, OR, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Lovely copy of Alison Louise Kennedy's novel. A fine copy in fine dust jacket. MC. Seller Inventory # 001486
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Published by
Jonathan Cape, London, 1999
ISBN 10: 0224044338
ISBN 13: 9780224044332
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: The Book Scouts, Sanborn, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
HARDCOVER. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. We're happy to combine shipping to save you some money. We're also always buying collectible book collections. Contact us for details. We're happy to provide pictures of any and all books for you, please just ask! British first edition, third printing. Virtually no wear to jacket. Jacket is NOT price clipped. Covers are clean and bright. Edges are sharp. No tears or creases. The book itself is in Near Fine condition. The binding is straight and tight. NO remainder mark. Seller Inventory # sku520010937
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Published by
Jonathan Cape, 1999
ISBN 10: 0224044338
ISBN 13: 9780224044332
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Novel Finds, Church Stretton, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Hard Cover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. All as new. Nathan Staples is a man in pain: consumed by loathing and love in roughly equal measures. Frustrated and appalled by his life and the way he lives it, he is sustained only by his passionate devotion for his estranged wife, Maura, and their teenage daughter, Mary - whom he has not seen in fifteen years, and who thinks he is dead. When Nathan contrives to have Mary invited to the island where he lives in retreat he sets in motion the possibility of telling her he is her father, and becoming whole and complete and alive again. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # 000338
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Everything You Need
Seller: B-Line Books, Amherst, NS, Canada
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Second Printing. Unmarked book but for stray pen streak to half-title page; dj merely rubbed. Seller Inventory # 14463
Quantity: 1 available