false 6164103 3 In his first ever work of non-fiction, the Booker Prize-winning author of "Last Orders" and "Waterland" delivers a warm and generous account of what has influenced and inspired him over the years. As a novelist, Graham Swift delights in the possibilities of the human voice, imagining his way into the minds and hearts of an extraordinary range of characters. In "Making an Elephant", his first ever work of non-fiction, the voice is his own. As generous in its scope as it is acute in its observations, this highly personal book is a singular and open-spirited account of a writer's life.Swift brings together a richly varied selection of essays, portraits, poetry, and interviews, full of insights into his passions and motivations, and wise about the friends, family, and other writers who have mattered to him over the years. Kazuo Ishiguro advises on how to choose a guitar, Salman Rushdie arrives for Christmas under guard, and Ted Hughes shares the secrets of a Devon river. There are private moments, too, with long-dead writers, as well as musings on history and memory that readers of Swift's novels will recognize and love. A journey through place and time, "Making an Elephant" is a book of encounters, between a son and his father, between an author and his younger selves, between writer and reader, and between friends. It brims with charm and candour, and tells of alertness to experience and a true engagement with words; in short, with what it means to feel that writing and reading are an essential part of living. 6343409 6 3 2009 Making an Elephant total:7|5:0|4:2|3:4|2:1|1:0| 7 22 29 1 3 4 false false Tue Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 23:15:03 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 11:11:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Oct 11 14:28:43 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 14:29:01 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Oct 05 18:44:55 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 18:44:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 02 08:11:10 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 08:11:10 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 29 09:50:46 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 22:58:02 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 09:48:43 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 26 13:19:48 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 13:27:21 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 13:19:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 04 09:40:16 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 09:40:16 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Sep 19 17:46:05 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 05:49:58 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 19 17:46:05 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 29 10:10:21 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 10:20:10 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Aug 28 10:14:46 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 10:14:46 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 22 10:13:35 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 10:13:35 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Aug 20 08:50:37 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 08:50:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Aug 18 18:40:07 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 18:40:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 05 19:40:22 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 19:40:22 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 28 20:50:38 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 20:50:38 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 21 13:40:18 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 13:40:18 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Wed Jul 22 09:51:02 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 11:21:05 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 09:51:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 17 17:04:55 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 17:04:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jul 11 09:06:05 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 09:06:05 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jun 24 19:01:34 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 19:01:34 -0700 2009