Saul Dawson-Smith can memorize the sequence of a shuffled deck of cards in under a minute; he can recite pi to a thousand decimal places and he remembers every conversation he’s ever had. He is 10 years old.
Howard McNamee is 28: lonely, overweight, and poorly-educated. He lives in the north of England, far from the scene of his difficult Glasgow childhood, in the home he shared with his mother before she died.
Through a series of unexpected events, these two solitary people find themselves forming an unlikely friendship, as Howard is taken under the wing of Saul’s parents, thrust into a life in London (where he makes new friends, tries to navigate a bewildering new city, and accidentally acquires a Russian internet fiancée) and Saul prepares himself for the World Memory Championships—the event he has been training for his whole life.
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Adam Foulds was named Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year in 2008. He is the author of the novel The Truth About These Strange Times, as well as the narrative poem The Broken Word, which won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize the 2008 Costa Poetry Award. He lives in London.
Friendship leads to trouble for Howard, a slow-witted man who befriends a boy who's suffering from headaches and nightmares as he prepares for the world memory championships. Colin Moody's narration emphasizes the absurdity of a 10-year-old competing in such a competition even as the characters face the consequences of taking off on a road trip to escape it. Moody also builds character, especially with the brogue he gives Howard and the petulant, erudite voice he gives the boy. Through small details the novel's atmosphere and the inner worlds of the two protagonists take shape. Foulds's depiction of bleakness juxtaposed with the characters' fears and hopes creates an extreme take on the pressures of contemporary childhood. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
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Hardcover. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. 324 pages. A novel. First edition (first printing). A fine, unread copy in a fine dust jacket. Signed by the author on the title page. Saul Dawson-Smith can memorise the sequence of a shuffled deck of cards in under a minute; he can recite pi to a thousand decimal places and he remembers every conversation he's ever had. He is ten years old. Howard McNamee is twenty-eight: lonely, overweight and poorly-educated. He lives in the north of England, far from the scene of his difficult Glasgow childhood, in the home he shared with his mother before she died. Struggling to pay his rent with a succession of menial jobs, Howard comes home each day and talks to the late Mrs McNamee, as he sits in front of the wardrobe that still contains her clothes. Through a series of unexpected events, these two solitary people find themselves forming an unlikely friendship, as Howard is taken under the wing of Saul's parents, thrust into a life in London (where he makes new friends, tries to navigate a bewildering new city, and accidentally acquires a Russian internet fiancee) and Saul prepares himself for the World Memory Championship. Seller Inventory # 270240
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