Keynote
"Stump makes you feel that you are reading on the edge of a life in a fierce gale, vulnerable, excited, alive." -Guardian
Book Title
Stump
Subtitle
A Novel
Cover Image
- “A slice of sadistic sleaze. . . another example of the baleful influence of Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh. But Griffiths is his own man. . .”—Los Angeles Times
Body
Wet an spectacular wreckage leads to 'powerful forgetting' which leads to 'periodics' which lead to the 'dry drunks' which go to 'immersion' an 'enabler' an 'therapeutic alliance' an any alternative, any fuckin alternative atropine aversion therapy or Antabuse or ECT or acufuckinpuncture or snakepits or swimming with dolphins an all of that all of it comes completely back to this one pure irreducible phenomenon: a booming heart that burns to drink.
It took the loss of a limb and the death threat from the mob to make one Liverpudlian dry out and move to a small seaside town in Wales. Here he tends to his garden, watches a one-eyed fox hunt for prey, feeds his rabbit celery. But his past life is a recurring nightmare-filth, desperation, and blackouts. More trouble, however, is only one hundred miles away. Darren and Alistair leave Liverpool, heading south in a rickety old car. They have been sent by their gang-boss to wreak terrible, violent revenge, but have only a rough idea of their quarry: a one-armed man.
Interspersed between the scabrous banter and a pitch-perfect street dialect, Griffiths offers stunning, lyrical descriptions of the Welsh landscape and a dark, knowing humor. And despite the ever-present drugs, violence, and anger, he reveals a fragile humanity. Graywolf is proud to introduce this striking, distinctive voice to American readers.
It took the loss of a limb and the death threat from the mob to make one Liverpudlian dry out and move to a small seaside town in Wales. Here he tends to his garden, watches a one-eyed fox hunt for prey, feeds his rabbit celery. But his past life is a recurring nightmare-filth, desperation, and blackouts. More trouble, however, is only one hundred miles away. Darren and Alistair leave Liverpool, heading south in a rickety old car. They have been sent by their gang-boss to wreak terrible, violent revenge, but have only a rough idea of their quarry: a one-armed man.
Interspersed between the scabrous banter and a pitch-perfect street dialect, Griffiths offers stunning, lyrical descriptions of the Welsh landscape and a dark, knowing humor. And despite the ever-present drugs, violence, and anger, he reveals a fragile humanity. Graywolf is proud to introduce this striking, distinctive voice to American readers.
List Price
$15.00
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About the Author
Credit: Toril Brancher
Praise
- “Like its protagonist, Stump is beautiful, flawed, rageful and lyrical…A pulse-quickening, unique work from what is surely a single-edition mind.”—Star Tribune
- “Griffith’s characters come straight out of a British gangster film mixed with Irvine Welsh’s druggy street squalor.”—Library Journal
- “Griffiths is best when he captures those small moments that punctuate the boredom of intermittently savage lives.”—Kirkus Reviews
- “A novel about addiction, damage, and grace, told in vibrant Liverpudlian dialect...A portrayal that is richly embodied.”—Antioch Review
