So Many Ways to Begin. Jon McGregor
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So Many Ways to Begin
Jon McGregor
4th Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published by Bloomsbury in 2006
This eBook published by 4th Estate in 2017
Copyright © 2006 by Jon McGregor
Cover image © Mat Taylor
Jon McGregor asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Source ISBN: 9780008218676
Ebook Edition © January 2017 ISBN: 9780008218683
Version: 2016-12-07
Further praise for So Many Ways to Begin:
‘So Many Ways to Begin confirms his reputation … Beautifully written’
Irish Times
‘Both triumphant and almost unbearably moving’
Waterstone’s Books Quarterly
‘McGregor’s talent remains dazzlingly apparent … McGregor captures in near-poetry what it is to lose our beginnings and to recreate a past’
Scotland on Sunday
‘McGregor’s gift is in finding the extraordinary in everyday life, subtly invoking your empathy with utterly believable characters’
Eve Magazine
‘The writing is powerfully spare and unadorned … an immensely sympathetic portrait of a marriage’
Time Out
‘Beautifully poetic’
Observer
‘His work has been compared to Philip Larkin in the way that it draws on a certain monochrome Englishness but the colour and poetry of his writing brings a luminous depth to his subject’
Metro
‘I absolutely loved this book’
Mariella Frostrup
‘A tender and invigorating picture of domestic life drawn by a masterly hand’
Big Issue
‘Compelling and convincing. A deeply rewarding read’
Good Book Guide
‘A very fine, affecting work that moves gracefully towards an unforgettable conclusion’
Glasgow Herald
‘It is a heartbreaking, luminous and wonderful work … He is an accomplished author who writes with blinding insight. One of the best books of 2006’
Shropshire Star
To Alice
Contents
Copyright
Further praise for So Many Ways to Begin
1 b/w photograph, Albert Carter, defaced, c.1943
2 Handwritten list of household items, c.1947
3 Local Map, Whitechapel district, London, annotated, c.1950
4 Tobacco tin, cigarettes, Christmas card, 1914
5 Shoebox of assorted domestic goods, bullets, shrapnel, 1953–1960
6 Postcard from Greenwich Maritime Museum, c.1953
7 Opening programme, Coventry Municipal Art Gallery and Museum, 1961
8 Two telegrams, November 1939 and April 1940
9 Contract, wage slip, duty sheet, from Coventry Museum, 1964
10 Letters, handwritten, 1966–68; Paper Napkin, 1966
11 Cigarette holder, tortoiseshell, believed 1940s
12 Picture postcard, Union Street, Aberdeen, c.1966
13 Pocket appointment diaries (incomplete set), dated 1935–1959
14 Pair of letters, handwritten, February 1967