Ben Myers Books

Winner of the Goldsmiths Prize 2023 Chosen as a book of the year 2023 by The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and New Statesman 'An epic the north has long deserved' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A sensational piece of storytelling ... A singular and significant achievement' GUARDIAN 'Marvellous, artful, enchanted' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Cements Myers's standing as one of our finest, and most deftly imaginative, writers' I NEWS The triumphant new novel from the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Gallows Pole and The Offing Cuddy is a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron saint of the North of England. Incorporating poetry, prose, play, diary and real historical accounts to create a novel like no other, Cuddy straddles historical eras - from the first Christian-slaying Viking invaders of the holy island of Lindisfarne in the 8th century to a contemporary England defined by class and austerity. Along the way we meet brewers and masons, archers and academics, monks and labourers, their visionary voices and stories echoing through their ancestors and down the ages. And all the while at the centre sits Durham Cathedral and the lives of those who live and work around this place of pilgrimage - their dreams, desires, connections and communities.

Edgy interviews with challenging musicians, including Marilyn Manson, Henry Rollins, Slipknot, Jello Biafra, Fat Mike of NOFX, Rage Against the Machine, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, and more. Attacked by Christian fundamentalists, middle America and the CIA, they tell it like it is about religion, racism, God, guns, government, drugs, literature, censorship and more! You can be drunken or high and get by singing for years, but you can't do that with rapping. But you can still have a good time without drinking or getting high. We'll go out and hang out or dance and be stupid.--Chuck D In Santa Barbara the Christian protestors were handing out pizza to the fans. I found it very odd that they were trying to spread the word of Christ through Domino's pizza! I thought that it was diabolical that they took communion with pepperoni and tomato sauce rather than wine and wafer.--Marilyn Manson I'm no fan of Osama Bin Laden- it's just one more example why religious fundamentalism should be eradicated. Bush says 'you're either with us or with the terrorists' but I say it's possible to be with neither.--Jello Biafra

**SOON TO BE A MAJOR FILM STARRING HELENA BONHAM-CARTER**FROM THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE GALLOWS POLE COMES A POWERFUL NEW NOVELA TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR_______________________'What a radical thing, these days, to have written a book so full of warmth and kindness ... Gorgeous' - Max Porter, author of Lanny'Glorious ... Leaves an indelible impression ... A moving and subtle novel in many ways, infused with a love of the minute pleasures in life, and the lasting regrets' - Scotland on Sunday_______________________One summer following the Second World War, Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham village. Sixteen and the son of a coal miner, he makes his way across the northern countryside until he reaches the former smuggling village of Robin Hood's Bay. There he meets Dulcie, an eccentric, worldly, older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage facing out to sea.Staying with Dulcie, Robert's life opens into one of rich food, sea-swimming, sunburn and poetry. The two come from different worlds, yet as the summer months pass, they form an unlikely friendship that will profoundly alter their futures._______________________An i Book of the YearA Reading Agency Book of the YearA BBC Radio 2 Book Club PickA BBC Radio 4 'Book at Bedtime'An Observer Pick for 2019

A bold and original exploration of landscape, nature and literature by a literary rising star

____________________ The inspiration for the BBC TV series, directed by Shane Meadows and starring Tom Burke, George MacKay and Thomas Turgoose WINNER OF THE 2018 WALTER SCOTT PRIZE ____________________ 'Powerful, visceral writing, historical fiction at its best. Benjamin Myers is one to watch' - Pat Barker 'Phenomenal' - Sebastian Barry 'Superb' - The Times ____________________ From his remote moorland home, David Hartley assembles a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become the biggest fraud in British history. They are the Cragg Vale Coiners and their business is 'clipping' - the forging of coins, a treasonous offence punishable by death. When an excise officer vows to bring them down and with the industrial age set to change the face of England forever, Hartley's empire begins to crumble. Forensically assembled, The Gallows Pole is a true story of resistance and a rarely told alternative history of the North. ____________________ 'One of my books of the year ... It's the best thing Myers has done' - Robert Macfarlane, Big Issue Books of the Year

Two outsiders embark on a journey of healing and enlightenment through the creation of crop formations in a Wiltshire field. Their unique endeavor serves as a backdrop for exploring themes of beauty and connection to nature, offering a folksy and magnetic narrative that resonates deeply. The story captures the essence of personal transformation and the profound impact of art on the human experience.

Green Day is the biggest punk band in the world. This is how it happened...

An ingenious, funny and moving novel about love, loss and second chances - and the power of music to bring us together. By the award-winning author of The Offing and The Gallows Pole

'One of the most singular, moving and crucial voices of our times' David Peace In Male Tears, a debut collection of stories that brings together over fifteen years of work, Benjamin Myers lays bare the male psyche in all its fragility, complexity and failure, its hubris and forbidden tenderness. Farmers, fairground workers and wandering pilgrims, gruesome gamekeepers, bare-knuckle boxers and ex-cons with secret passions, the men that populate these unsettling, wild and wistful stories form a multi-faceted, era-spanning portrait of just what it means to be a man.

Die vornehmlich männlichen Protagonisten in Bejamin Myers' oft aufwühlenden Erzählungen haben weder das Strahlende der Helden vergangener Tage noch zeigen sie den Charakter, der sie das moderne Leben bewältigen lassen würde. Vielmehr kämpfen sie oft ums nackte Überleben, oft mit gescheiterten Lebensentwürfen und ihrer Vorstellung vom Mannsein. Harte Arbeit, Prinzipientreue, Pflichterfüllung, ohne Fragen zu stellen, all das ist ihnen nicht fremd. Vor Versagensängsten, Unsicherheit und Zärtlichkeit schrecken sie zurück. So wie der Ehemann der namenlosen Frau, die in ›Ein englisches Ende‹ beim friedlichen Schwimmen in einem abgelegenen See ihrer Ehe unsentimental und klarsichtig Revue passieren lässt. Sieger sind die Frauen und Männer in Myers' Erzählungen kaum, dennoch erleben sie ab und an Momente des Friedens und des Glücks. ›Der längste, strahlendste Tag‹ vereint die Arbeit von fünfzehn Jahren. Emotional und sprachlich dicht überzeugt jede einzelne Geschichte von Benjamin Myers.

Eine junge Frau, unterwegs in einer bedrohlichen Gegend, hat plötzlich das Bild einer Kathedrale auf einem Hügel vor ihrem inneren Auge. Sie wünscht sich nichts sehnlicher als den Schutz des heiligen Cuthberts, für dessen Gebeine sie und ihre Begleiter eine letzte Ruhestätte suchen. Die unterdrückte Ehefrau eines Bogenschützens hofft, die Wahrheit zwischen imposanten Kirchenmauern zu finden. Als sie erneut Quälereien durch ihren Ehemann ausgesetzt ist, sucht sie Hilfe bei einem der feinsinnigen Steinmetze. Ein Professor, der bei der Exhumierung von Cuthbert zugegen ist, erhält in den Nächten unwillkommenen, angsteinflößenden Besuch. Ein junger Hilfsarbeiter trifft bei der Arbeit in der Kathedrale nicht nur auf freundliche Menschen, sondern erlebt Momente der Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft. ›Cuddy – Echo der Zeit‹ verbindet Poesie und Prosa, verschiedene Textarten und reale historische Begebenheiten und spannt dabei einen Bogen über die Epochen zu einem außergewöhnlichen Roman.

Earlon »Bucky« Bronco hat mit seinen siebzig Jahren noch nie das Meer gesehen. Und doch treibt er seit dem Tod seiner Frau durch Chicago wie ein Schiffbrüchiger. Zwischen Bett und Walmart-Apotheke zählt er die Stunden bis zum Ende. Da erreicht ihn eine unerwartete Nachricht: eine Einladung zu einem Soul-Festival im englischen Scarborough. Tatsächlich hat Bucky eine Vergangenheit als Soulsänger, doch in den USA sind seine wenigen Songs längst vergessen. An der britischen Küste angekommen, begreift er, dass er hier eine Art Legende ist. Und er trifft auf Dinah, eine melancholische und lebenskluge Mittfünfzigerin, die ihren deprimierenden Alltag am besten vergessen kann, wenn sie Buckys Lieder hört oder sich in die kalte Nordsee stürzt. Benjamin Myers erzählt von zwei Gestrandeten, von den Stürmen des Lebens und dem Sog der Erinnerung. Vor allem aber erzählt er vom Meer, auf dessen Oberfläche immer ein Streifen Hoffnung schimmert.