The Cut that Wouldn't Heal

Reviews / Votes

PRAISE FOR THE CUT THAT WOULDN'T HEAL: The Cut That Wouldn't Heal should be depressing, but it is in fact weirdly exhilarating, largely because the author tracks his own feelings, however untoward, with a darkly comical precision ... What might, in other hands, have been simply macabre becomes peculiarly mesmerising. -- Craig Brown * The Mail on Sunday * Honest without oversharing, William Leith is such a perfect writer ... The Cut that Wouldn't Heal is a triumph and deeply moving. Wonderful. -- Justin Webb William Leith is a very fine writer, defined by a compulsive honesty: not the heavily-curated oversharing of social media culture, but the real, uncomfortable thing. This book, which deals in the sometimes absurdist agonies of grief - and indeed of life - is his best yet. * Laura Thompson * A reckoning with the past by a writer whose past offers plenty to reckon with ... Pacily written ... satisfyingly structured -- Norma Clarke * Times Literary Supplement * An intensely readable study of love and regret. -- Ian Jack As mysterious and unsettling as a Cold War thriller - the search for self amidst the puzzle of a brilliant absentee father. -- Ed Needham * Strong Words Magazine * PRAISE FOR THE TRICK: The Trick takes all of Leith's writing habits - his mazy streams of consciousness (few writers are quite so enamoured of, or good at, watching themselves think) and his love of axiom - and, if anything, ups the ante... Hugely enjoyable. * Observer * PRAISE FOR THE HUNGRY YEARS: Compulsively readable. I gulped it down in a couple of greedy bites ... It is a powerful memoir ... it has the unusual qualities of heart and daring. In the end, these are what stay inside you. * Daily Telegraph *