Apples: A Novel - Softcover

Milward, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847671780 ISBN 13: 9781847671783

Publisher: Canongate U.S., 2008

Synopsis

Apples, an unassuming debut novel plucked from the imagination of a remarkable new twenty-one-year-old talent, and published to rave reviews in London, is a surprising, affecting, ingeniously crafted little coming-of age novel that has critics calling Richard Milward the voice of the MySpace generation.

As a distraction from sleazy male admirers, spiteful classmates, and her mother’s progressing cancer, Eve’s adolescent eyes are opened to a multicolored life of fumbling one-night stands, drug-fuelled clubs, endless varieties of candy-flavored cheap booze, and banal consumerist choices. She barely has time to notice Adam. Adam, however, notices Eve. While contending with sexual frustration, an asshole father, and increasingly compulsive behavior, is Adam too busy furtively reading porn in his bedroom to make his move on Eve?

A paean to the scattershot difficulties of growing up, the complications of friendship, and the consequences of hormones in overdrive, Apples is a deliciously pitch-perfect debut.

About this title

About the Author:

JOHN RETALLACK is the artistic director of Company of Angels, and has written and directed a number of plays in recent years. John was formerly director of Oxford Stage Company (1989 - 1999) where his adaptation of Melvyn Burgess' Junk won the TMA Young People's Award in 1998. His Shakespeare productions for Oxford Stage Company toured internationally and won widespread critical acclaim over a period of ten years. He was the founding director of Actors Touring Company (ATC) (1977 - 85). His work has been awarded several prizes, including a SWET award in 1983 and a Herald Angel at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival. Other plays include: COMPANY OF ANGELS: Hannah and Hanna; Virgins; Risk; Club Asylum.

Review:

Catcher in the Rye meets Arctic Monkeys.” The Times

"This superb stage version of Richard Millward's debut novel is - like an underage Trainspotting - an upbeat and sometimes even joyous affair that suggests that for all the trials and tribulations of the teenage years, the kids are probably going to be OK."
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

Adaptor and director John Retallack's version works very well. Anyone wanting to understand - or, at any rate, to begin to understand - the pressures young people face in growing up at the bottom of our society's heap should see Apples. But don't expect an enjoyable evening of theatre - moving, illuminating, superbly well done, certainly, but "enjoyable" is definitely not the right word!” British Theatre Guide

A superb stage version of Richard Milward's debut novel It's a funny-sad, ugly-beautiful night out, nicely performed by its young cast and swirling with the sweaty, dirty poetry of everyday life. 4 stars”
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

A neat, pacey production A rollercoaster ride through adolescence in all its frantic, anxious, smeary, glittering glory.”
Alice Jones, The Independent


“Catcher in the Rye meets Arctic Monkeys.”―The Times

"This superb stage version of Richard Millward's debut novel is - like an underage Trainspotting - an upbeat and sometimes even joyous affair that suggests that for all the trials and tribulations of the teenage years, the kids are probably going to be OK."
―Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

“Adaptor and director John Retallack's version works very well. Anyone wanting to understand - or, at any rate, to begin to understand - the pressures young people face in growing up at the bottom of our society's heap should see Apples. But don't expect an enjoyable evening of theatre - moving, illuminating, superbly well done, certainly, but "enjoyable" is definitely not the right word!”―British Theatre Guide

“A superb stage version of Richard Milward's debut novel... It's a funny-sad, ugly-beautiful night out, nicely performed by its young cast and swirling with the sweaty, dirty poetry of everyday life. 4 stars”
―Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

“A neat, pacey production ... A rollercoaster ride through adolescence in all its frantic, anxious, smeary, glittering glory.”
―Alice Jones, The Independent

About this edition

• Publisher: Canongate U.S.
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1847671780
• ISBN 13: 9781847671783
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208