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Rare Singles
- Author
- Benjamin Myers
- Narrator
- Danny Sapani
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 1 August 2024
- Run Time
- 7 hours 49 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'A book of rare charm by a writer who understands the magic of music' Ian Rankin
'An entertaining tale of grit, fecklessness and Northern Soul' Daily Telegraph
'The book you didn't know you need' Bobby Palmer
'A tale of soul music and second chances' Guardian
'The laureate of friendship, a chronicler of unexpected, transformative connection' Wendy Erskine
'A meditation on grief, love, and the redemptive power of music' Observer
____________________________________
Dinah has always lived in Scarborough. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, her one release comes at her town's Northern Soul nights, where she gets to lose herself in the classics.
Over in Chicago, Bucky Bronco has been down on his luck since the loss of his beloved Maybellene. The best he can hope for is to make ends meet, and try and stay high. But then an invitation arrives, from someone he's never met, to come to somewhere he's never heard of. In need of the cash, Bucky boards a plane.
And so he finds himself in rainy Scarborough, where everyone seems to know who he is - preparing to play for an audience for the first time in nearly half a century...
Wise, hilarious and profound, Rare Singles is an unforgettable story about the power of music and friendship to bring us back to ourselves.
Critics Review
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An entertaining tale of grit, fecklessness and Northern Soul ... reflects the author’s dedication to Northern stories, and his knack for making them come alive
DAILY TELEGRAPH
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Vivid as a Polaroid snapshot ... A charming hymn to the power of music ... A book of affection that takes joy in its main characters and their passions, about pain, loss and the possibility of redemption
OBSERVER
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Myers is the laureate of friendship, a chronicler of unexpected, transformative connection ... So how beautiful to read something so affirming and full of light, and to have music, ephemeral as it might be, presented as precious and transformational
WENDY ERSKINE
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Lovely to spend time with two characters I really wished could be real ... A book of rare charm by a writer who understands the magic of music
IAN RANKIN
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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A book that captures just why music is so magical. Music pulses throughout a novel that, in part, reads like a love letter to the timeless American classics of Chess Records, Stax and Motown ... If you want a heartwarming summer read, I definitely suggest you give Rare Singles a spin
independent.co.uk
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A story that takes joy in its characters and their passions ... Myers’s descriptions of the northern soul scene carry the passion of a true believer
GUARDIAN, Book of the day
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A meditation on friendship, community and the power of music to unite and uplift
IRISH TIMES
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A celebration of the redemptive power of music. In essence, the novel is a love song to love songs … Those who enjoy a love story set to a fantastic soundtrack should embrace this nostalgic trip to Scarborough. If David Nicholls and Nick Hornby had a literary love child, this book would be it
IRISH TIMES
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Following the Goldsmiths-winning Cuddy, a tale of soul music and second chances, as a washed-up American singer meets a Scarborough woman
GUARDIAN, Books to look out for in 2024
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This is a story about kindness and warm hearts, but one told by way of acrid humour, irreverence and fizzy dialogue
IRISH INDEPENDENT
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Some characters get under your skin, and Earlon ‘Bucky’ Bronco, an ageing addict who once had a hit record, is one of the most memorable I’ve come across in a long time. When he’s invited to a Northern Soul event in Scarborough, he meets downtrodden Dinah – his number one fan – and the two find hope in each other
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, 20 best books of the year
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A poignant and soulful story that delves into the nuances of human experience through the power of music
GLAMOUR
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Myers, a consummate storyteller, is in his element here; empathetic and generous
i paper
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Warm, witty and unexpected, Rare Singles is that rare thing – a novel filled with truth and tenderness and genuine humanity. The book you didn’t know you need
BOBBY PALMER, author of Isaac and the Egg
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Pulses, not with the pounding beats of Northern Soul, but with the shifting rhythms of lives lived, moving from stasis to flux
THE CRACK
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An absolute banger
RED
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A nostalgic tale of love, loss, friendship and music
RADIO TIMES
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People, you’re going to love this. A beautiful vignette of redemption, loss, faded seaside glamour and Northern Soul
MAT OSMAN
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Scarborough’s Northern Soul scene is the setting for Rare Singles by the Durham-born Benjamin Myers, who won the 2023 Goldsmiths Prize
NEW STATESMAN, 2024: The year in fiction
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Returns Myers to his past as a music journalist, telling a warmly nostalgic tale of northern soul and unlikely friendship in Scarborough. The great but forgotten Bucky Bronco’s visit to the Yorkshire coast is handled with Myers’s customary humour and generosity of spirit.
GUARDIAN, Fiction to look out for in 2024
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Praise for Benjamin Myers: One of our finest, and most deftly imaginative, writers
I NEWS
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What a radical thing, these days, to have written a book so full of warmth and kindness ... Gorgeous
MAX PORTER
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A writer of extraordinary and incandescent talent
ALEX PRESTON
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Here is a strong, spiritual writer who sees and loves every dewdrop, old oak, soft little animal and buried sword, and offers them up to us like the precious treasures they are
THE TIMES
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Book by book, over the past decade, Ben Myers has proved himself to be one of the most singular, moving and crucial voices of our times
DAVID PEACE
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Benjamin Myers
- Narrator
- Danny Sapani
- Duration
- 7 hours 49 minutes
- Release Date
- 1 August 2024
- ISBN
- 9781526671868
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Fiction: literary and general non-genre
Synopsis
A warm, tender and funny story about unlikely friendships, second chances, and the magic of soul music 'A book of rare charm by a writer who understands the magic of music' Ian Rankin'An entertaining tale of grit, fecklessness and Northern Soul' Daily Telegraph'The book you didn't know you need' Bobby Palmer'A tale of soul music and second chances' Guardian'The laureate of friendship, a chronicler of unexpected, transformative connection' Wendy Erskine'A meditation on grief, love, and the redemptive power of music' Observer____________________________________Dinah has always lived in Scarborough. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, her one release comes at her town's Northern Soul nights, where she gets to lose herself in the classics.Over in Chicago, Bucky Bronco has been down on his luck since the loss of his beloved Maybellene. The best he can hope for is to make ends meet, and try and stay high. But then an invitation arrives, from someone he's never met, to come to somewhere he's never heard of. In need of the cash, Bucky boards a plane. And so he finds himself in rainy Scarborough, where everyone seems to know who he is - preparing to play for an audience for the first time in nearly half a century... Wise, hilarious and profound, Rare Singles is an unforgettable story about the power of music and friendship to bring us back to ourselves.
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