
Strangeland
The memoirs of one of the most acclaimed artists of her generation
Tracey Emin(Author)
Sceptre (Publisher)
Published on 5. October 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-340-76946-1 (ISBN)
Description
The intimate memoirs of one of the most acclaimed and controversial artists of her generation.
Here I am, a fucked, crazy, anorexic-alcoholic-childless, beautiful woman. I never dreamt it would be like this.
'Frequently affecting...intriguing, almost incantatory' Telegraph
Tracey Emin's Strangeland is her own space, lying between the Margate of her childhood, the Turkey of her forefathers and her own, private-public life in present-day London. Her writings, a combination of memoirs and confessions, are deeply intimate, yet powerfully engaging. Tracey retains a profoundly romantic world view, paired with an uncompromising honesty. Her capacity both to create controversies and to strike chords is unequalled in British life.
A remarkable book - and an original, beautiful mind.
'As spare and poignant as one of Emin's line drawings' Marie Claire
Here I am, a fucked, crazy, anorexic-alcoholic-childless, beautiful woman. I never dreamt it would be like this.
'Frequently affecting...intriguing, almost incantatory' Telegraph
Tracey Emin's Strangeland is her own space, lying between the Margate of her childhood, the Turkey of her forefathers and her own, private-public life in present-day London. Her writings, a combination of memoirs and confessions, are deeply intimate, yet powerfully engaging. Tracey retains a profoundly romantic world view, paired with an uncompromising honesty. Her capacity both to create controversies and to strike chords is unequalled in British life.
A remarkable book - and an original, beautiful mind.
'As spare and poignant as one of Emin's line drawings' Marie Claire
Reviews / Votes
Her writings are painfully honest . . . Strangeland is more than Tracey's diary, just as her bed and her tent and her blankets are more than private displays that happen to have attracted a lot of attention * The Times * While her best-known art has shown Emin at her most confrontational, in her writing we meet a calmer, more sensitive soul. * Observer * A fantastically engaging storyteller . . . heartbreaking . . . effortlessly funny * Metro * As spare and poignant as one of Emin's line drawings * Marie Claire * Eccentrically readable * Glamour * Frequently affecting . . . read Emin for intriguing, almost incantatory sections on her travels to Turkey, the occasional shaft of two-fingers-up-at-the-world wit and the delight of seeing someone revel in vicious vengefulness * Daily Telegraph * Reveals a funny, sensitive and brave woman, challenging conventions * Grazia * Emin talks with brutal frankness . . . genuinely uplifting * Scotsman * An extraordinary piece of writing . . . Brace yourself. Let's say this is a memoir (and most of the time, it is, although her relationship to the truth is variable: incidents described here have been contradicted by her elsewhere); it couldn't be filmed. The director and half the cast would be arrested . . . she has played the hand she has been dealt as skilfully and tenaciously as anyone could have, while still retaining a belief in beauty. And Strangeland comes over as honest and extraordinary * Guardian * Written with a furious energy * Guardian * A raw and uncompromising read . . . but it is also a tale of hope and inspiration . . . her writings, a combination of memoirs and confessions, are deeply intimate, yet powerfully engaging. Tracey retains a profoundly romantic world view, paired with an uncompromising honesty. Her capacity both to create controversies and to strike chords is unequalled in British life. A remarkable book - and an original, beautiful mind * Evening Standard * A very readable book, and a surprising one too * Independent on Sunday * [An] odd and powerful memoir -- Marina Warner * London Review of Books * A combination of memoir and confession and gives an insight into the mind of one of contemporary art's most intriguing figures * Evening Standard * Beautiful . . . as vivid a piece of writing about a childhood as you could hope to read - unguarded, open-hearted, shocking -- Chris Harvey * Daily Telegraph * Strangeland is a surprisingly lyrical and tightly written account of its author's journey so far * Australian Vogue * Poignant and sensitive * Stylist * Emin writes with fierce clarity * Times Literary Supplement * An extremely well-written and readable book * Glasgow Herald * Strangeland should not . . . be approached as a memoir unless a memoir can be understood to be a Tracey Emin artwork. She is no fake -- Rachel Cusk * Sunday Telegraph * Magical * Sunday Times * 'A fantastically engaging storyteller... heartbreaking... effortlessly funny' * <i> Metro </i> * 'As spare and poignant as one of Emin's line drawings' * <i> Marie Claire </i> * 'A very readable book, and a surprising one too' * <i> Independent on Sunday</i> * 'Eccentrically readable' * <i> Glamour</i> * 'Frequently affecting...intriguing, almost incantatory' * <i> Saturday Telegraph </i> * 'An extremely well-written and readable book' * <i> Glasgow Herald </i> * 'Reveals a funny, sensitive and brave woman' * <i> Grazia </i> * 'Emin talks with brutal frankness...genuinely uplifting' * <i> Scotsman </i> * 'A natural oddball - or, to put it another way, instinctively eccentric' * <i> Telegraph Magazine</i> * 'Strangeland should not...be approached as a memoir unless a memoir can be understood to be a Tracey Emin artwork. She is no fake' * Rachel Cusk, <i> Sunday Telegraph</i> * '[Emin's] writings are painfully honest...Strangeland is more than Tracey's diary, just as her bed and her tent and her blankets are more than private displays that happen to have attracted a lot of attention' * Jeanette Winterson, <i> The Times </i> * 'While her best-known art has shown Emin as her most confrontational, in her writing we meet a calmer, more sensitive soul.' * <i> Observer </i> * 'Strangeland is a surprisingly lyrical and tightly written account of its author's journey so far.' * Australian <i> Vogue</i> * 'Emin writes with fierce clarity.' * Henry Hitchins, <i> Times Literary Supplement</i> *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Hodder & Stoughton
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
None
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
155 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-340-76946-1 (9780340769461)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tracey Emin was born in 1963 to an English mother and a Turkish father, and grew up in Margate. She left school at 15, but later studied Fine Art at Maidstone College and went on to the Royal College of Art. She is now an internationally renowned artist whose work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world. Several of her pieces, including 'Everyone I Have Ever Slept With', were featured in the 1997 'Sensation' exhibition at the Royal Academy, and in 1999 her work 'My Bed' was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. Strangeland is the first, full-length publication of her writing, which draws together new and revised work from the past 25 years.