{"product_id":"how-to-be-human-9780099510772","title":"How to Be Human","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cu\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2018\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''In evocative and elegant prose Cocozza delves deep into the psyche of a strange and troubled woman. The reader is invited to share in her intense connection to a fox and will admire the author's mordantly witty dissection of contemporary manners.'' -Sarah Perry, chair of Judges for Desmond Elliott Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou've seen a fox. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCome face to face in an unexpected place, or at an unexpected moment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd he has looked at you, as you have looked at him. As if he has something to tell you, or you have something to tell him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut what if it didn't stop there? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Mary arrives home from work one day to find a magnificent fox on her lawn - his ears spiked in attention and every hair bristling with his power to surprise - it is only the beginning. He brings gifts (at least, Mary imagines they are gifts), and gradually makes himself at home. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd as he listens to Mary, Mary listen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[A] poignant and playful meditation on loss, love and loneliness. \u003ci\u003eHow To Be Human\u003c\/i\u003e vibrates with originality, poetry and guts and I loved every strange, yet beautiful, page -- Ali Land, author of Good Me Bad Me\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow to Be Human\u003c\/i\u003e is an intriguing and subversive debut, an eerie tale that acts on the reader like a ghost story, charged with the power of the ignored and the suppressed. If we disdain our animal selves, they trail us, shadowing us at dawn and dusk. Paula Cocozza shows us that the line between the wilderness and the city is thin, easily transgressed; the ghost breathing in the thicket is our own wild nature. -- Hilary Mantel\u003cbr\u003eThere is much of [Ali] Smith’s playfulness in Paula Cocozza's enchanting debut . . . For all its suggestiveness and sensuality, [her] narrative is artfully restrained . . . In this startling debut, [she] seems to be saying that, no matter how lonely the city becomes, through an open window a mass of life is listening back. * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003e[An] impressive debut * Irish Times, International Fiction Book of the Year *\u003cbr\u003eCocozza has a wonderful eye for detail, and her descriptions of the natural world are uncanny . . . She takes a big risk in narrating some sections from the point of view of the fox, and pulls it off with aplomb\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eUnsettling, the writing often vivid and rich. * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eHypnotic . . . suspenseful . . . wonderfully sly and assured . . . Readers may come to realize they are on thrillingly unstable ground. * New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eIntriguing and unsettling . . . the tricky, shifting substance of relationships is so insightfully drawn and  constantly surprises. -- Laura Barnett, author of THE VERSIONS OF US\u003cbr\u003eA thrilling psychodrama . . . She brilliantly captures a sense of Hitchcockian, curtain-twitching intensity . . . Like the scent of a fox, truth and fact in \u003ci\u003eHow to Be Human\u003c\/i\u003e start to evaporate. What is left behind is a pervasive sense that beneath the veneer of civility, something wilder is always lurking. * Economist *\u003cbr\u003eSharp, thoughtful . . . exhilarating . . . the plot slips from urban pastoral to tense thriller. * Newsweek *\u003cbr\u003eCocozza’s brilliant debut novel [is] a beguiling, highly inventive story about loneliness and finding a place in the world . . . A disturbing humour underpins Mary’s voice, a mesmerising mix of delusion and discernment . . . The momentum is achieved through Cocozza’s edgy, atmospheric writing. * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003ePaula Cocozza's intense, fox-like powers of observation allow her to stalk the claims of territory and hidden wildness that energise this taut, shimmering novel. -- Richard Beard, author of THE ACTS OF THE ASSASSINS\u003cbr\u003eEerie, original and subversive, \u003ci\u003eHow to be Human\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating yet disturbing look at obsession, delusion and loneliness . .  A thrilling exploration of what makes us human. * i *\u003cbr\u003eA writer who is clearly unafraid of launching herself with a bang . . . Compelling . . . We are reminded of how close to the surface primal instincts can prowl. * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eNicely balanced between the serious and the lighter-hearted, Cocozza’s novel is an engaging read. * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eIn turn devastating, heart-warming and absurd, \u003ci\u003eHow to Be Human\u003c\/i\u003e is an astonishing debut . . . At its core, it is a powerful and tender portrait of madness, loss and love. * i *\u003cbr\u003eCocozza builds up equal measures of dread, danger and derangement as Mary brilliantly but bizarrely redefines what her future might look like. -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *\u003cbr\u003eA singular love story of dominance and betrayal, this novel sets the tone for what will hopefully be a long and strange literary career. * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eThis brilliantly eerie novel is a powerful meditation on the blurred lines between sanity and delusion, the wild and so-called civilisation. * The Lady *\u003cbr\u003eAn atmospheric tale about safety, sanity and the complexity of relationships. * Big Issue in the North *\u003cbr\u003eThis dream-like debut from Cocozza paints a cleverly observed picture of wildness and loneliness, blurring the lines between human nature, normality and delusion. * Journey Magazine *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornerstone","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732254962007,"sku":"9780099510772","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099510772.jpg?v=1719996154","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/how-to-be-human-9780099510772","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}