That Reminds Me
Winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020
by Derek Owusu
Narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
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Pub Date 14 Nov 2019 | Archive Date 4 Feb 2021
Penguin Random House UK Audio | Merky Books Digital
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Description
Brought to you by Penguin.
WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2020
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'A dreamy, impressionistic offering of reassembled fragments of memories emerging through the misty beauty of a deliciously individualistic poetic sensibility . . . remind[s] us of what has been missing from British poetry. I can't tell you how impressed I was and how much I enjoyed reading this stunning book.'
Bernadine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other
'Heartbreaking, important and original.'
Christie Watson, author of THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS
'Derek Owusu's writing is honest, moving, delicate, but tough. Once you lock on to his words, it is hard to break eye contact. A beautiful meditation on childhood, coming of age, the now, and the media. This work is heartfelt.'
Benjamin Zephaniah
'When writing is this honest, it soars. What an incredible use of language and truth.'
Yrsa Daley-Ward
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Anansi, your four gifts raised to nyame granted you no power over the stories I tell...
This is the story of K.
K is sent into care before a year marks his birth. He grows up in fields and woods, and he is happy, he thinks. When K is eleven, the city reclaims him. He returns to an unknown mother and a part-time father, trading the fields for flats and a community that is alien to him. Slowly, he finds friends. Eventually, he finds love. He learns how to navigate the city. But as he grows, he begins to realise that he needs more than the city can provide. He is a man made of pieces. Pieces that are slowly breaking apart
That Reminds Me is the story of one young man, from birth to adulthood, told in fragments of memory. It explores questions of identity, belonging, addiction, sexuality, violence, family and religion. It is a deeply moving and completely original work of literature from one of the brightest British writers of today.
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'A singular achievement.'
Michael Donkor, Guardian
'This story is brave and moving.'
Kate Kellaway, Observer
'Honest and beautiful.'
Guy Gunaratne, author of IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format, Unabridged |
| ISBN | 9781529119114 |
| PRICE | £7.50 (GBP) |
| DURATION | 2 Hours, 40 Minutes |
Links
Featured Reviews
Roman C, Reviewer
Dazzling technique makes this book stunning on the style level as Owusu weaves between poetry and prose, using assonance, rhythm, cadence and rhyme with a masterful ease that feels natural and inevitable at the same time as it oozes a kind of spontaneity and authenticity.
It's extremely hard to pull off this kind of poetic prose and I've personally found it try-hard and often meaningless when used by [author:Daisy Johnson|14247059], [author:Jessica Andrews|19734705], [author:Emma Glass|16775684] amongst others - which makes it all the more impressive to see it done so beautifully in what is a first novel. This intuitive feeling for the flexibility, pliancy and resonance of language is rare, and thrilling when it is made to work as is the case here. Owusu is as much a musician of words as a writer and it's well worth reading this aloud or listening to the audiobook (beautifully and feelingly read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith).
Of course, words alone don't necessarily make a strong book but Owusu has something to say as well: about loneliness and race, about masculinity and identity, about self-harm and addiction, about suicide and mental illness - and how to find a way out of that spiral towards regeneration and some kind of faith beyond despair.
It's especially positive to see this book challenging our cultural myths about Black masculinity as this embraces vulnerability and defencelessness with grace and integrity. In that sense, this reminded me of the intimacy of [book:Open Water|53414230] by [author:Caleb Azumah Nelson|20293142], with the linguistic facility of [author:Kei Miller|707250].
At just 100 pages or so with plenty of white space, this proves that so much can be said not necessarily with lots of words but with precisely the right words placed faultlessly.
Clara C, Educator
I don't think it will be possible to ever forget K. He grew up and thrived in spite up society, his family and his upbringing. He became the sum of his surrounding parts. He was endearing, inquisitive, he loved life. He was accepting and optimistic. He was kind and generous. He suffered and despaired. He tried to progress, succeed despite all of the obstacles that stood in his way. He will stay with me for a long time to come.
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