The Restraint of Beasts
shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize
Published on 2. August 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-4088-0943-3 (ISBN)
Description
'Tam and I took hold of Mr McCrindle and lowered him into the hole, feet first. We decided to leave his cap on'. Fencers Tam, Richie and their ever-exasperated English foreman are forced to move from rural Scotland to England for work. After a disastrous start involving a botched fence and an accidental murder, the three move to a damp caravan in Upper Bowland and soon find themselves in direct competition with the sinister Hall Brothers whose business enterprises seem to combine fencing, butchering and sausage-making. "The Restraint of Beasts" introduced readers to the now much-loved unique voice of Magnus Mills and his surreally comic world.
Reviews / Votes
'A heaving cauldron of black humour ... You'll never look at a stretch of high-tensile agricultural fencing in quite the same way ever again' Time Out 'With a tone that wavers as unsettlingly between Ken Loach and Franz Kafka as its locale switches from Scotland to England, Magnus Mill's first novel is a work of rare originality and power ... It is very, very good' Independent 'Extremely unusual, finely crafted and funny' Observer 'Unpretentious, comic and intelligent' Daily TelegraphMore details
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2011
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€10.49
Available for download
Person
Magnus Mills is the author of five novels and two collections of stories, including The Restraint of Beasts, which won the McKitterick Prize and was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread (now the Costa) First Novel Award in 1999. His books have been translated into twenty languages. He lives in London.