A moving, unforgettable memoir of two lost men: a father and his
child. He had his final heart attack in the Silver Band Club in
Corby, somewhere between the bar and the cigarette machine. A
foundling; a fantasist; a morose, threatening drinker who was quick
with his hands, he hadn¿t seen his son for years. John Burnside¿s
extraordinary story of this failed relationship is an exquisitely
written evocation of a lost and damaged world of childhood and the
constants of his father¿s world: men defined by the drink they
could take and the pain they could stand, men shaped by their guilt
and machismo.. A Lie About My Father is about forgiving but not
forgetting, about examining the way men are made and how they fall
apart, about understanding that in order to have a good son you
must have a good father.
Compelling and profoundly moving... This exquisitely written memoir is, literally, a journey into a heart of darkness - a darkness here lit up by beauty and truth Independent An exceptional book... A brilliant feat of sympathy and imagination Financial Times Burnside's prose is a delight...Memoir this good illuminates something larger than itself. It is an exercise in understanding compassion and forgiveness -- Melanie McGrath Sunday Telegraph [An] exquisitely written memoir -- Paul Bailey Sunday Times Destined to become a classic of Scots childhood... A beautiful read, but also a brutal one Scotland on Sunday
