Shy

Porter, Max

£12.99

Things keep slipping up for Shy. All he wants is sex, spliffs and his own turntables, and for all the red noise in his mind to disappear. But again and again he spirals past his senses and ends up with his head in his hands and carnage around him. You mustn’t do that to yourself Shy. You mustn’t hurt yourself like that. He’s been kicked out of two schools, been cautioned, arrested, stabbed his stepdad in the finger and bottled a former Tumble Tots playmate, but it’s the taunts and teasing of his new schoolmates that haunt Shy. At Last Chance – a home for ‘very disturbed young men’ – he is surrounded by people who want to help him, but his night terrors aren’t getting any better. The night is huge and it hurts. So tonight he’s stepping into it, with the haunted beginnings of a plan.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 06/04/2023

Description


From the bestselling author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny, Shy is a novel about guilt, rage, imagination and boyhood. It is about being lost in the dark, and realising you are not alone.

‘Max Porter is one of my favourite writers in the world.’ George Saunders
‘Beautiful and haunting.’ Kevin Barry
‘The strangest, most beguiling and affecting of all his books.’ Ian Rankin
‘A miracle of language.’ Irish Times

This is the story of a few strange hours in the life of a troubled teenage boy.

You mustn’t do that to yourself Shy. You mustn’t hurt yourself like that.

He is wandering into the night listening to the voices in his head: his teachers, his parents, the people he has hurt and the people who are trying to love him.

Got your special meds, nutcase?

He is escaping Last Chance, a home for ‘very disturbed young men’, and walking into the haunted space between his night terrors, his past and the heavy question of his future.

‘An act of humanity and grace, heightened by its distinctive form and artistry.’ Telegraph

Additional information

Weight 237 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 9 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

122

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K