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William Leith

The Cut that Wouldn't Heal: Finding My Father Hardcover – 26 May 2022

by William Leith (Author)

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'Honest without oversharing, William Leith is such a perfect writer ... A triumph' Justin Webb

'What might, in other hands, have been simply macabre becomes peculiarly mesmerising' Craig Brown, The Mail on Sunday

Ten seconds before my father's death, I have a premonition - that the breath he is taking will be his last.

It was only a graze caused by a dishwasher door, but the cut would not heal and infection took hold. Fifty days later, William Leith is standing by his father's bedside, watching him disappear.

William is no stranger to his father disappearing; his childhood was marked by his father's absences, and as a consequence their relationship has always been a troubled one. Now, as his father is about to leave him for the last time, William reflects on the twists and turns of their shared history.

Compelling, incisive, and told with searing honesty, The Cut that Wouldn't Heal is about family and grief, and the pain of abandonment. It is about the way we let our loved ones down and the things we cannot say. It is about the act of disappearing - but also about how we might be able to reach out and find each other again.

Eloquent and moving, The Cut that Wouldn't Heal is a heartbreaking account of one man's quest to find his father.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date

26 May 2022
Dimensions

22.3 x 2.8 x 14.4 cm
ISBN-10

1526623781
ISBN-13

978-1526623782
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William Leith
27
Hardcover
15 offers from £1.05

Product description

Review

PRAISE FOR THE CUT THAT WOULDN'T HEAL: The Cut That Wouldn't Heal should be depressing, but it is in fact weirdly exhilarating, largely because the author tracks his own feelings, however untoward, with a darkly comical precision . What might, in other hands, have been simply macabre becomes peculiarly mesmerising. -- Craig Brown ― The Mail on Sunday

A reckoning with the past by a writer whose past offers plenty to reckon with . Pacily written . satisfyingly structured -- Norma Clarke ― Times Literary Supplement

Honest without oversharing, William Leith is such a perfect writer . The Cut that Wouldn't Heal is a triumph and deeply moving. Wonderful. -- Justin Webb

A concise and intensely readable study of love and regret. -- Ian Jack

William Leith is a very fine writer, defined by a compulsive honesty: not the heavily-curated oversharing of social media culture, but the real, uncomfortable thing. This book, which deals in the sometimes absurdist agonies of grief - and indeed of life - is his best yet.

― Laura Thompson

As mysterious and unsettling as a Cold War thriller - the search for self amidst the puzzle of a brilliant absentee father.

-- Ed Needham ― Strong Words Magazine

PRAISE FOR THE TRICK: The Trick takes all of Leith's writing habits - his mazy streams of consciousness (few writers are quite so enamoured of, or good at, watching themselves think) and his love of axiom - and, if anything, ups the ante... Hugely enjoyable. ― Observer

PRAISE FOR THE HUNGRY YEARS: Compulsively readable. I gulped it down in a couple of greedy bites ... It is a powerful memoir ... it has the unusual qualities of heart and daring. In the end, these are what stay inside you. ― Daily Telegraph

Book Description

A heartbreaking account of one man's quest to understand his father

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Publishing (26 May 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1526623781
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1526623782
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 22.3 x 2.8 x 14.4 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,006,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,019 in Alcohol & Drug Abuse Biographies
- 1,457 in Depression & Mental Health Biographies
- 1,801 in Drug & Chemical Abuse Addiction & Recovery

Customer reviews:
10 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

10 global ratings

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Philip Carr-gomm

Touchingly Honest

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 11 January 2023

I read this book just after my mother had died. My father died ten years previously. So the theme of this book was familiar territory, and yet William Leith's story - his reactions, and how he dealt with his loss was so different. I was fascinated by these differences but also recognised so much in common too. But what impressed me the most was the author's honesty, his ability to convey his feelings with such frankness - even to the point where I would find two reactions occurring in me: "we don't need these details" exactly alongside "No, tell me more!" - and that is what propelled me on through the story - making the book so readable. I started to become interested in his style: at first it seems as if he wrote this as a voice-memo on his phone, such is the ease of flow, the rhythms and repetitions. But I suspect this is in reality a hard labour of love, honing the language, writing and re-writing, so that in the end there is a story that is both everyday and utterly strange, that is witty and yet also very sad. This is an intensely human book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 27 May 2022

Disclaimer: *This book was given to me free by the author*
An honest and personal investigation into feelings and memories surrounding the death of an "absent" brilliant father, this is by turns heartbreaking funny and insightful. A compelling read.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

H. BORDEN

His Father should be proud.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 22 June 2022

Playful, profound, vulnerable and brave, the emotional undercurrent of The Cut That Wouldn’t Heal is a son saying to his dying Father; ‘I love you’.

Perhaps because of his own childhood, George Leith clearly didn’t want children and prioritised his work over his wife and 2 boys.

The staccato chapters of this book spring from the final moments of George’s life and are at times, heartbreaking, intellectually stimulating and darkly funny,

A sense of abandonment pervades. Damaging interactions at boarding school, failed relationships and the emotional vacuum created by his enigmatic Father’s absence.

I love spending time in Leith’s head and found myself greedily gulping down the prose.

Brilliant. His best yet.

Helpful

p fox

A brilliant memoir about loss

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 5 June 2022

I must confess to a bias here as I have hoovered up and loved every book and column written by William Leith. I enjoy his style of writing as well as the themes he returns to regularly - overconsumption, debt, and the ageing process. He’s an astonishingly good social commentator and writes with unsettling, brutal honesty about his flaws and self-destructive habits.

The roots of his appetite for self-harm are to be found in his childhood and formative years he believes. This latest book sheds light on this, more so than his others. It also differs in style from previous ones as it’s presented in short chapters unlike, for example, Bits Of Me Are Falling Apart (2009) which is a mini Ulysses in that it all happens over one day and contains sweeping digressions and hugely entertaining stream of consciousness monologues.

The Cut That Wouldn't Heal is a short and brilliant memoir about loss, grief, family tensions and trying to understand an absent and enigmatic father. I loved it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Suzanne

An honest memoir, beautifully executed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 28 June 2022

I really enjoyed this beautifully written memoir. It is light, funny and full of real honesty. I love the authors self-deprecating style. There is an air of mystery and curiosity surrounding the nature of his father’s work and his constant absence in the author’s early years.

Helpful

C. Palmer

An intimate insight into loss

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 14 June 2022

Will's talent is hitting the Zeitgeist. Social care is the new Atkins (The Hunger Years), wealth envy (The Trick) or introspection as we approach our middle years (Bits of Me Are Falling Apart).
The Cut That Wouldn't Heal is an intimate and often humorous account of Will's relationship with his father. Awkward at times, as you'd expect with Will, but never not compelling, it asks the uncomfortable questions we will all have to face one day.
One of, if not, his best.

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