Author:Michael Symmons Roberts,Paul Farley
The wilderness is much closer than you think. Passed through, negotiated, unnamed, unacknowledged: the edgelands - those familiar yet ignored spaces which are neither city nor countryside - have become the great wild places on our doorsteps.
In the same way the Romantic writers taught us to look at hills, lakes and rivers, poets Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts write about mobile masts and gravel pits, business parks and landfill sites, taking the reader on a journey to marvel at these richly mysterious, forgotten regions in our midst.
Edgelands forms a critique of what we value as 'wild', and allows our allotments, railways, motorways, wasteland and water a presence in the world, and a strange beauty all of their own.
This book is a delight: witty and wryly contrarian
—— Robert MacFarlane , GuardianA masterpiece of its kind... Even more uplifting is the chapter on weather - truly one of the most extraordinary passages of prose I have read in some time... This is, quite simply, beautiful, but it is also typical of a beautifully conceived work of exploration, by two emissaries to the wilderness who do the wasteland proud
—— John Burnside , The TimesMarvellously quirky, fascinatingly detailed and beautifully written
—— Daily TelegraphThe edgelands, where the veneer of civilisation peels away, are the most despised and ignored of landscapes. Ambition turns to dust in the sewage farm and landfill site. But Farley and Roberts's mischievous and elegant forays into these marginal wastes, show that dust turns back to life in them - into riotous ecologies, agitprop architecture and the wonderful business of playing. A provocative, left-field read
—— Richard MabeyHaunting, often inspiring book...Edgelands covers an impressive range of politics, reminiscence, investigation and rumination
—— Scotland on SundayEdgelands delights with its sly, impish wit and observation
—— SpectatorEye-opening and hugely enjoyable book ... overall this is an original, surprising and rather wonderful addition to our literature of place
—— Sunday TelegraphA book that begs us to use our imaginations; to appreciate what we pass by every day but never really see
—— MetroThis is a delightful and important book. By focusing on the fringes, on the shabby reality of suburban life, these poets remind us that there are always new myths for old, that the 'edgelands' may even be our true centre
—— John Greening , Country LifeWith chapters on paths, dens, wastelands, business parks and many other topics, this book has opened my eyes to all kinds of things I might not have noticed before
—— Wendy Cope , Daily TelegraphA 2011 favourite
—— Wendy Cope , Observer, Books of the YearThe year's most unusual travel book
[An] eye-opening and hugely enjoyable book
—— Daily TelegraphWritten in a delectable prose that scatters flashes of poetry over a sardonic undertow of social comment, Edgelands is a lyrical triumph. On Britain’s grotty margins, the duo trace “desire paths” to find beauty and mystery in the rough darkness on the edge of town
—— Boyd Tonkin , IndependentThrow out your old atlas. The new version is here
—— Walter Kirn (author of UP IN THE AIR)Kasarda ... and Lindsay convincingly put the airport at the centre of modern urban life
—— EconomistHighly recommended
—— Library Journal
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