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Cowards
In 1990s Seattle, Mitch Slaughter, a member of a band called The Otis Process, leads readers through every moment of a life haunted by heroin, starting with breakfast and almost ending when a friend dies from an overdose. A first novel.
197 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 1997
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July 4, 2013“Understated, raw, powerful – W.A. Burgess is a new literary voice of intense clarity. A dark and wonderful book.
The New York Review of Books
“With its blank rage, random violence, heroin overdoses and general all-around nastiness, W.A. Burgess’s harsh, anomic first novel would be almost unbearable to read – if it weren’t so well written. An emotionally exhausting – and ultimately impressive – debut.”
The New York Times Book Review
“A surprisingly visceral novel.”
Details
“cowards is an attempt to record the idiom and attitudes of a youth subculture. It’s made a sliver of contemporary white-boy life acceptable for literature, and if that’s not a world-historical accomplishment, it’s a positive one nonetheless.”
NYPress
“W.A. Burgess is an artist.”
James Kelman, Booker Prize winning author of How Late it was, How Late
“If you want to read culture from its source, before its appropriation and sanitization by commercial interests, then pick up this book. It’ll prove to you that nothing is more liberating and moving than someone telling as it is, and telling it with style.”
Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting
The New York Review of Books
“With its blank rage, random violence, heroin overdoses and general all-around nastiness, W.A. Burgess’s harsh, anomic first novel would be almost unbearable to read – if it weren’t so well written. An emotionally exhausting – and ultimately impressive – debut.”
The New York Times Book Review
“A surprisingly visceral novel.”
Details
“cowards is an attempt to record the idiom and attitudes of a youth subculture. It’s made a sliver of contemporary white-boy life acceptable for literature, and if that’s not a world-historical accomplishment, it’s a positive one nonetheless.”
NYPress
“W.A. Burgess is an artist.”
James Kelman, Booker Prize winning author of How Late it was, How Late
“If you want to read culture from its source, before its appropriation and sanitization by commercial interests, then pick up this book. It’ll prove to you that nothing is more liberating and moving than someone telling as it is, and telling it with style.”
Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting
Displaying 1 of 1 review