Cliff James's Blog - Posts Tagged "new-book"

Coming out in December 2019, my new book - Life As A Kite: a queer, political, philosophical travelogue based on a true story.

Self-imposed exile, a circumnavigation of the world and a search of the ideal society -

Here are some taster readings on Youtube:
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=P...

And here's the back cover blurb:

Life As A Kite
The world feels increasingly volatile and polarised. Millions of people are displaced or alienated by abuses of power. Our lives are cluttered, stressful and unsatisfying. Our sense of who we are and where we belong is more fragile than ever.

Following political and personal upheaval at home, Cliff James emigrated from his native England and travelled the globe in search of an ideal society. In his quest for Utopia, he sought enlightenment in Himalayan temples, joined ecological and peace projects in Israel and Palestine, and served at refugee camps and organic farms from Europe to Asia, Australia and South America.

Against a backdrop of global instability, he depicts the intricacies of daily life around the world, the challenges of social and environmental injustice, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Life As A Kite is a philosophical as much as a geographical journey, a personal narrative of loss and hope, and a manifesto for a future without frontiers.

Peace and love,
Cliff James
cliffjames.weebly.com

Compañeros,
There's a playlist of songs that were inspired by the book Life As A Kite, and some of these songs accompanied particular stretches of the journey.
Each week, I'll be uploading a new song - one song for each of the 17 chapters/locations in the travelogue - with an excerpt from that chapter.

This week, for Chapter One - The Crossing (the beginning of the journey) - it's the divine Nina Simone with 'I wish I knew how it would feel to be free'. (YouTube link below).

From Chapter 1 - The Crossing:
"Here, leaving the departure lounge, leaving the port, the shore and those cliffs that the Romans named, it hits you with the existential force of a near-gale off the Kentish coast: that first-day-of-school terror, standing alone on the lonely edge of a lifelong precipice where no one will ever look out for you again, for this is the first day of exile. It is breath-stealing, suffocating, heart-breaking at once. Breathe. Steel yourself, for here ends gravity and there are now no anchors to keep you grounded. Beware, the apeman is not prepared for such leaps of imagination. Life is a kite. Remember to breathe."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoU4Y...

*Ask The Author*
Gearing up for the immanent launch of Life As A Kite, we're inviting you to ask Cliff James any questions about the book of the journey or the journey of the book. You can ask what you like and chosen questions will be answered by the author in an online video to mark the launch of the book.
You can send your question via message or through the 'Cliff James - Author' Facebook Page at @CliffJamesAuthor

Life As A Kite will be available to order in bookshops and online distribution sites within in the next few days, so keep an eye on the Facebook page for further news.
Hasta la publicación -Cliff James
Hasta la victoria siempre.

Life As A Kite launched today!

The new book, Life As A Kite, is now available now from www.feedaread.com and all good bookshops.
Here's a new youtube video to mark the launch:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IIp1K8-...

ISBN: 9781839451430

Here's the blurb from the back cover: "The world feels increasingly volatile and polarised. Millions of people are displaced or alienated by abuses of power. Our lives are cluttered, stressful and unsatisfying. Our sense of who we are and where we belong is more fragile than ever. Following political and personal upheaval at home, Cliff James emigrated from his native England and travelled the globe in search of an ideal society. In his quest for Utopia, he sought enlightenment in Himalayan temples, joined ecological and peace projects in Israel and Palestine, and served at refugee camps and organic farms from Europe to Asia, Australia and South America. Against a backdrop of global instability, he depicts the intricacies of daily life around the world, the challenges of social and environmental injustice, and the resilience of the human spirit. Life As A Kite is a philosophical as much as a geographical journey, a personal narrative of loss and hope, and a manifesto for a future without frontiers." More information about Cliff's books and other work at cliffjames.weebly.com

The Kindly OnesCliff JamesAt last, it's out! The new novel by Cliff James, The Kindly Ones, is now available to buy from the publisher, Lethe Press (follow the link below), and Amazon. It should soon be available from all bookstores including your local bookshop. ISBN 9781590216903

Here's what they're saying about it...

"... the narrative raises pressing philosophical questions about ethics and altruism while conjuring fascinating characters and an eerie setting." - ​Publishers Weekly

"[A] post-apocalyptic, queer-spiced thrill" - Patrick Gale

"Cliff James is a rising star of contemporary British literature celebrated for his exquisitely observed characters & beautifully weaved, nuanced story-telling.
The Kindly Ones is a story for an extinction rebellion era set at the edge of extinction. It's about homelessness, displacement, shelter & survival. It's about growing up where death looms daily. It's about human compassion & religious ridiculousness. It's about acquired family & family bound by blood & faith. It's about intimacy, tenderness & humour and it's about disorientation, discomfort & despair. It's about fragility & resilience. It's about slavery & injustice & violence. And within the chaos & destruction blooms love." (Andy Taylor, Voices of Awareness)

To order a copy, follow this link to the Lethe Press website: https://www.lethepressbooks.com/store...The Kindly Ones

"‘Natural justice is to prevent one man from harming or being harmed by another,’ Rhea read aloud. It was such a pithy formulation that she wondered whether it could really be that simple, if that were all there was to it. She had harmed a man once, sharply, bloodily, in the back without seeing his face, and she had done it to prevent him from harming Francesca. When she thought about it now, that terrible night in the last house, she knew she had only done what was necessary. And she would not hesitate to do it again to prevent anyone from harming her girls or the boy, her true kin. It had not been revenge, not an eye for an eye, but she still felt that it had tainted her, spoiled her forever. She hated the man for that: not just for what he would have done to Francesca but for what he had driven her to do, in effect for what he had done to her. She read the consoling sentence again. To prevent one from harming another, that is justice. She sighed and put the book down. That would have to do for an answer today..."

It's out! The Kindly OnesThe Kindly Ones is now available from the Lethe Press website, from Amazon, and very soon to order from all good bokshops (ISBN 9781590216903).
* If you want to read the book, you can say so on The Kindly Ones page on Goodreads. Simply visit the following page and click "Want To Read" - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
* Once you've read the book, you can tell the world whatever you thought of it by adding a quick review on the same Goodreads page!
* If you want to go one step further and tell your friends about The Kindly Ones, feel free to share these posts 😁

Now that his new, dystopian novel The Kindly Ones is available to buy, Cliff James reads an extract from Chapter Two of the novel - video on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/UnNZHEz3uOE

The Kindly Ones
Cliff James