Search results for ""author ron butlin""

From the author of the award winning The Sound of My Voice After being sacked from his day job as a business executive, Morris Magellan has cashed it all in – the house, the car, family life – to be free at last to pursue his true passion: music. He returns to his childhood home to escape city life, face his demons and compose his masterpiece. Very soon, things start to go wrong. Not only does his past catch up with him, but the future becomes more threatening by the day. Bad habits return with a vengeance. Then he meets Jess. Written with humour and compassion, this compelling novel, set in the Borders, sixties London and present-day Edinburgh, touches on music, love in later life and, most of all, how to make the most of one’s time before it is too late.

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Morris Magellan wakes one morning to find himself stuck in a corporate job and living the suburban dream with a wife and two children, except this dream feels like a nightmare. Out of his depth and starting to drift from reality, we meet Morris at the precipice. Bit by bit he is losing his struggle with addiction – he just doesn’t know it yet. His only solace and escape from suburban family life and corporate duties is music and alcohol. His life is soundtracked with symphonies and concertos, every note, and every drink, carries him from moment to moment hoping to salvage something of himself before that too slips from his grasp. Harrowing but compellingly written, with humour and compassion, The Sound of My Voice is a stylistic masterpiece that presents conflict between a man’s cowardice and cruelty, and a desperate attempt to recover his humanity.

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Following on from the runaway success of The Magicians of Edinburgh, renowned poet and novelist Ron Butlin conjures up Scotland’s past, present and future in this new collection. From Skara Brae and the Roman invasion to the independence referendum and beyond, the former Edinburgh Makar explores what Scotland means to itself and to the outside world. With his customary wit and insight, he takes a good hard look at some of its magicians – from James Hutton to Professor Peter Higgs, from Robert Burns to Dame Elizabeth Blackadder and even Tony Blair. Underlying all these poems is a deep love for Scotland’s uniqueness, and its magic!

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Ron Butlin is an award-winning poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer children's author and librettist whose works have been translated into many languages. He regularly gives creative writing workshops in schools, and was Edinburgh Makar from 2008 to 2014.

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Ron Butlin is an award-winning poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer chidlren's au-thor and librettist whose works have been translated into many languages. He regularly gives creative writing workshops in schools, and was Edinburgh Makar from 2008 to 2014.James Hutcheson is Creative Director at Birlinn. He has been designing books, book jackets and album covers for many years.

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