The Busker

(Paperback)

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Description

Three cities, two years, one chance: from the author of the critically acclaimed debut So It Is - shortlisted for best first book at the Scottish Book Awards 2013 - comes the hard-hitting story of a young man determined to find his voice. Plucked from obscurity in Glasgow, Rab Dillon is about to become the next great protest singer. Seduced by promises of stardom, carrying only the guitar given to him by the girl who broke his heart, he travels down to London. There he records the debut album that will speak to the dispossessed, the disenfranchised and disheartened. One year later, he is sleeping rough on the streets of Brighton. A modern-day ballad set across three cities and two years, The Busker is a richly comic expose of the music industry, the Occupy movement, homelessness, squatting - and failing to live up to the name you (almost) share with your hero. It is also the story of what survives when the flimsy dreams of fame fall apart.

Reviews

'Relevant, hard-hitting and certainly not lacking in grit... Bell's prose is unflinching, masculine and readable.' - DURA: Dundee University Review of the Arts

'Bell continues the winning streak he started with 2012's So It Is, with fine depictions of characters and locations.' - Herald, Paperback of the Week

'A disturbing and realistic portrayal of the music industry, homelessness and how life can go horribly wrong.' - We Love This Book

'The settings - from the grubby woodlands of Hyndland to the insidious coldness of Brighton's beachfront - are very well observed.' - The List

'A tale for our times... The Busker leaves you with the hope that it ain't over til it's over.' - Scots Whay Hae!

Author Bio

Liam Murray Bell was born in Orkney, and has lived in both Belfast and Glasgow. He completed his MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. He has a PhD from the University of Surrey, where he also taught Creative Writing. He has published in several critical and creative journals and anthologies. His first novel, So It Is, was published in 2012. He is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Stirling.