Nalda Said

by Stuart David

Overview

The Guardian called this first novel by Stuart David, founding member of the rock group Belle and Sebastian, “a stunning insight into reclusion,” and The Times wrote, “delicately written and achingly sad.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781885586711
Publisher:	Turtle Point Press
Publication date:	04/01/2005
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.40(d)

Editorial Reviews

Nalda Said is, at heart, a cautionary tale about the terrifying malleability of a young intellect.

The Village Voice

At once riveting and sad, Nalda Said turns out to be uncomfortably true to life. — Dana Kennedy

The New York Times

Nalda Said is attracting great acclaim not because it is a book by the bass player of Belle & Sebastian, but because it's a fabulous novel.

The Guardian

Delicately written and achingly sad ... if David ever gives up the day job, pop music's loss could well be literature's gain.

The Times of London

A touching, delicately crafted debut, reminiscent of A Catcher in the Rye in terms of the main character's inability to fit into stark daily reality.

Impact Magazine

The most accessible of the New York School of poets proves to be a delightful letter writer, as this breezy stream of correspondence over 40 years attests. Highlights are his regular bulletins to fellow poets John Ashbery, Barbara Guest and Kenneth Koch (Frank O'Hara and W.H. Auden are sadly missing). Schuyler's letters are primarily a means of keeping in touch, garnished with gossip, film and theater recommendations and other amusements. He does, of course, find time to comment archly on contemporary poetry, give solid editorial criticism, preview his own verse (including the unpublished "A Blue Shadow Painting") and collaborate with Ashbery on their satiric novel, A Nest of Ninnies. In addition to the city's poetry scene, Schuyler moved in the Manhattan art world, American expatriate cliques in Italy and gay New York. Keeping up with Schuyler's wide interests, gregariousness and penchant for name dropping, editor Corbett supplies hundreds of footnotes. There are, however, gaps in the record, starting at the time of Schuyler's nervous breakdown in 1961 and recurring over his final two decades as he struggled with mental illness. But Schuyler, unlike a friend who wanted all his letters burned, wrote to amuse his correspondents, not confess to posterity; he never worried, like that friend, about leaving behind what he called "a whited sepulcher" for himself. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly