Book description
'An immensely readable volume. On every page, Swift emerges as a
considerable essayist, who upholds the sterling virtue of good writing
combined with emotional and intellectual engagement' Evening Standard As
a novelist, Graham Swift delights in the possibilities of the human
voice, imagining his way into the minds and hearts of an extraordinary
range of characters. In Making an Elephant, his first ever work of
non-fiction, the voice is his own. Swift brings together a richly varied
selection of essays, portraits, poetry, and reflections on his life in
writing, full of insights into his passions and motivations, and wise
about the friends, family, and other writers who have mattered to him
over the years. Kazuo Ishiguro advises on how to choose a guitar, Salman
Rushdie arrives for Christmas under guard, and Ted Hughes shares the
secrets of a Devon river. There are private moments, too, with long-dead
writers, as well as musings on history and memory that readers of
Swift's novels will recognize and love. 'A rewarding collection, with
the same humanity and flair for detail that distinguishes Swift's
fiction' TLS 'Revealing, self-deprecating, full of fascinating details.'
Edward Marriott, Observer 'Swift's essays display the same quiet
intensity as his fiction, a capacity for subtle storytelling with dark
emotional undercurrents' Financial Times
Graham Swift was born in 1949 and is the author of eight acclaimed
novels and a collection of short stories. With Waterland he won
the Guardian Fiction Prize (1983), and with Last Orders the
Booker Prize (1996).
