On Trying To Keep Still

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Now in B Format

From the award-winning, fabulously unique writer - comes a most unusual series of journeys from Lapland to New Zealand to Somerset. 'A luminous, brilliantly witty account of the trials of seeking stillnes' Joanna Kavenna, Telegraph

Jenny Diski's attempt to keep still and mentally idle resulted in a year in which she travelled to New Zealand, spent two months almost alone in a cottage in the country and visited the Sami people of Lapland. Diski, fails to keep still and, like the philosopher Montaigne, keeps a record of her ramblings both mental and physical hoping as he did in time to make her mind ashamed of itself. Interspersed with ill-tempered descriptions of these trips are digressions on the subject of her sore foot; her childhood desire for 'a condition', thoughts about growing older, spiders, fundamentalism and the problems of keeping warm.

Reviews

'On Trying to Keep Still is unflaggingly engaging. It is also very funny' Sophie Ratcliffe, New Statesman 'A brave and moving admission of a way of life that society isn't geared up to cope with, a poignant read illuminated by flashes of humour' Herald 'More please' Independent a remarkable, original, often funny, truly moving, journey' Independent on Sunday While much of the collection revolves around Diski's attempt to exercise her stupor to its fullest degree, there is nothing lazy about her writing. Combining philosophy with travelogue and personal memoir - in particular, memories of her difficult childho

Author Bio

Jenny Diski is the author of eight novels including ONLY HUMAN and AFTER THESE THINGS plus two memoirs: Skating to Antarctica and Stranger on a Train. She lives in Cambridge