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Nic Compton

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Nic Compton

Goodreads Author


Born
in Bristol, The United Kingdom
Website

Genre

Influences

Per Petterson
Ernest Hemingway

Member Since
February 2016


Nic Compton is a writer/photographer specialising in sailing - but with a keen interest in environmental issues. After an idyllic childhood on boats in the Mediterranean, he returned to the UK at age 14 to complete his formal education, including in a degree in English with American & Commonwealth Arts at Exeter University. After a decade or so working as a journeyman shipwright, he studied Journalism at City University, eventually fetching up at the offices of Classic Boat in land-locked Croydon. He was deputy editor and then editor of the magazine from 1994 to 2000. That was when he gave up the security of the monthly pay packet for the vagaries of freelance life. Since then he has travelled the world as a writer/photographer, contributin ...more

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Nic Compton I get ideas for books all the time - sometimes from reading articles, sometimes from other books, sometimes just by wandering around or going for a ro…moreI get ideas for books all the time - sometimes from reading articles, sometimes from other books, sometimes just by wandering around or going for a row on the river. I usually have at least half a dozen book ideas in my head, and it's just a matter of seeing which one develops into a fully-fledged proposal. If they make it that far, they're usually good enough to get the thumbs up from a publisher. (less)
Nic Compton Working up various ideas into proposals.
Average rating: 3.77 · 666 ratings · 80 reviews · 33 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Shipping Forecast: A Mi...

3.75 avg rating — 207 ratings6 editions
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Titanic on Trial: The Night...

4.10 avg rating — 145 ratings — published 2012 — 8 editions
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Off the Deep End: A History...

3.55 avg rating — 109 ratings — published 2017 — 7 editions
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Why Sailors Can't Swim and ...

3.33 avg rating — 51 ratings — published 2013 — 8 editions
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Tweetonomics: Everything Yo...

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions
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The Indispensable Book of P...

3.55 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions
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Notable Boats: Small Craft,...

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Iain Oughtred: A Life in Wo...

4.33 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions
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A Knot A Day: 365 Knot Chal...

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Life Skills: How to Chop Wo...

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More books by Nic Compton…

Donald Crowhurst & The Mercy

Of all the tales of human tragedy at sea, few have caught the public imagination as much as the strange story of Donald Crowhurst. His tragic intervention in the 1968 Gold Globe Race has inspired several plays and books, as well as an art installation by Tacita Dean, a epic poem and even an opera. I devoted nearly a whole chapter to the story in my recent book book: Off the Deep End: A History of Read more of this blog post »
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Published on January 03, 2018 07:34

Nic’s Recent Updates

Nic Compton and 34 other people liked Rachel's review of Night Boat to Tangier:
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
"I'm devastated that I didn't love this, given how much this seemed to be right up my literary alley.  I was confident that the criticisms I'd heard - slow, not emotionally engaging enough, too much drug talk - wouldn't faze me.  I mean, I know my tas" Read more of this review »
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Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
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This book reminds me of someone who’s got the gift of the gab but won’t shut up. In the end, sprinkling swear words throughout the text isn’t a good enough replacement for a strong plot.
Nic Compton wants to read
Ernest Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway
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A Goat's Song by Dermot Healy
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Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili
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In Granma's wake - Girl Stella's voyage to Cuba by Frank Mulville
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A fascinating snapshot in time: visiting Cuba so soon after the revolution when the people were still full of hope. Of course it didn’t quite work out as they d hoped but it was a beautiful idea, and Mulville has a wonderful way with words. Much more ...more
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By Jean-Claud Izzo Total Kheops (Folio Policier) (French Edit... by Unknown Author
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Amazing writing which elevates the detective genre to a new level - even if I couldn’t follow all the intricacies of the plot!
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The Vegetarian by Han Kang
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I was going to give this book three stars but the third section was so boring and depressing I downgraded it to two, and even then….
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Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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More of Nic's books…
Quotes by Nic Compton  (?)
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“So there you have it: hearing voices at sea is not a pathological condition. It’s quite normal. Welcome to the world of illusions at sea. Of mirages, looming, towering, stooping and sinking. Of moons that change size, suns that change shape, horizons that bend, lights that change colour, and sounds that play hide and seek. Of waves that speak, ships that effervesce and whales that turn into baby elephants. For the sea has a lobsterpot full of tricks and illusions to confuse and beguile even the most rational 21st century sailor.”
Nic Compton, Off the Deep End: A History of Madness at Sea

“UKIP SHIPPING FORECAST by Nicholas Pegg After a UKIP councillor claimed widespread flooding in the UK was God’s punishment for allowing same-sex marriage, author/performer Nicholas Pegg wrote his own version of the Shipping Forecast. His recording went viral, receiving 250,000 hits in four days. ‘And now the shipping forecast issued by UKIP on Sunday the 19 January 2014 at 1200 UTC. There are warnings of gays in Viking, Forties, Cromarty, Southeast Iceland and Bongo Bongo land. The general synopsis at midday: Low intelligence expected, becoming Little England by midnight tonight. And now the area forecasts for the next 24 hours. Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire: south easterly gay seven to severe gay nine, occasionally bisexual. Showers – gay. Forties, Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger, Fisher: women veering southerly 4 or 5, losing their identity and becoming sluts. Rain – moderate or gay. German blight, immigration veering north – figures variable, becoming psychotic. Showers – gay. Humber, Thames, Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth: benefit tourism 98%, becoming variable – later slight, or imaginary. Showers – gay. Biscay, Trafalgar: warm, lingering nationalism. Kiss me Hardy, later becoming heterosexual – good. FitzRoy, Sole, Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea, Shannon, Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey: right or extreme right, veering racist 4 or 5, increasing to 5 to 7. Homophobic outburst – back-peddling westerly and becoming untenable. Showers – gay. Fair Isle, Faeroes, South East Iceland: powerbase decreasing, variable – becoming unelectable. Good. And that concludes the forecast.”
Nic Compton, The Shipping Forecast: A Miscellany

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Goodreads Malaysia: Nazmi Versi Slow and Steady: 111 Judul 64 118 Sep 23, 2013 07:33PM  
Aussie Readers: **Winter Reading Challenge - 2014** 800 306 Sep 04, 2014 04:15AM  
“So there you have it: hearing voices at sea is not a pathological condition. It’s quite normal. Welcome to the world of illusions at sea. Of mirages, looming, towering, stooping and sinking. Of moons that change size, suns that change shape, horizons that bend, lights that change colour, and sounds that play hide and seek. Of waves that speak, ships that effervesce and whales that turn into baby elephants. For the sea has a lobsterpot full of tricks and illusions to confuse and beguile even the most rational 21st century sailor.”
Nic Compton, Off the Deep End: A History of Madness at Sea

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