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      Radical: A Life of My Own

      5 in stock

      Firm sale: non returnable item
      SKU 9781529920024 Categories ,
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      The new memoir from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo - playful, provocative and original, it's her deeply personal take on striving for a life of her own'When it comes to spinning light and shadow on the complexities of living, loving and language, Xiaolu Guo is o...

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      Description

      Product ID:9781529920024
      Product Form:Paperback / softback
      Country of Manufacture:GB
      Title:Radical
      Subtitle:A Life of My Own
      Authors:Author: Xiaolu Guo
      Page Count:352
      Subjects:Memoirs, Memoirs, Language: history and general works, Lexicography, Cultural studies, Language: history & general works, Lexicography, Cultural studies, London, Greater London, China, New York, c 2010 to c 2020
      Description:Select Guide Rating
      The new memoir from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo - playful, provocative and original, it's her deeply personal take on striving for a life of her own'When it comes to spinning light and shadow on the complexities of living, loving and language, Xiaolu Guo is one of the most valuable writers in the world' DEBORAH LEVYThe world can seem strange and lonely when you step away from your family and everything you have tried to call your own. Yet beauty may also appear. In the autumn of 2019 Xiaolu travelled to New York to take up her position as a visiting professor for a year, leaving her child and partner behind in London. The encounter with American culture and people threatens her sense of identity and throws her into a crisis - of meaning, desire, obligation and selfhood. This is a memoir about separation - by continents, by language, and from people. It's about being an outsider and the desperate longing to connect. Xiaolu uses her exploration of language (one of the meanings of the word 'radical' is the graphic component, or root, of Chinese characters), and her own life, to create this unique text. At once a memoir, a dictionary, and an ardent love letter, it is an expression of her fascination with Western culture and her nostalgia for Eastern landscapes, and an attempt to describe the space in between. An archive of an artist's search for creative freedom, it is above all else an intimate account of her efforts to carve out a life of her own. 'Radical in angle of attack, smart and brave' IAIN SINCLAIR, author of The Gold Machine

      The new memoir from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo - playful, provocative and original, it''s her deeply personal take on striving for a life of her own

      ''When it comes to spinning light and shadow on the complexities of living, loving and language, Xiaolu Guo is one of the most valuable writers in the world'' DEBORAH LEVY

      The world can seem strange and lonely when you step away from your family and everything you have tried to call your own. Yet beauty may also appear. In the autumn of 2019 Xiaolu travelled to New York to take up her position as a visiting professor for a year, leaving her child and partner behind in London. The encounter with American culture and people threatens her sense of identity and throws her into a crisis - of meaning, desire, obligation and selfhood.

      This is a memoir about separation - by continents, by language, and from people. It''s about being an outsider and the desperate longing to connect. Xiaolu uses her exploration of language (one of the meanings of the word ''radical'' is the graphic component, or root, of Chinese characters), and her own life, to create this unique text. At once a memoir, a dictionary, and an ardent love letter, it is an expression of her fascination with Western culture and her nostalgia for Eastern landscapes, and an attempt to describe the space in between. An archive of an artist''s search for creative freedom, it is above all else an intimate account of her efforts to carve out a life of her own.

      ''Radical in angle of attack, smart and brave'' IAIN SINCLAIR, author of The Gold Machine


      Imprint Name:Vintage
      Publisher Name:Vintage Publishing
      Country of Publication:GB
      Publishing Date:2024-03-07

      Additional information

      Weight282 g
      Dimensions196 × 129 × 25 mm