Cham
Published on 10. July 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-84668-635-1 (ISBN)
Description
Long-dead Lord Byron started it. The rock star of his age. But a poet with about as much relevance to the blood grudge struggle that marks modern life for most of humanity, as he has to the practice of sliding down snowy slopes on planks of wood. And yet, it was thanks to Byron that Itchy ended up living in Chamonix Mont Blanc, the death-sport capital of the world, among the high mountains and low morals.
In the intervening years he has tried hard with alcohol and adrenaline to numb a past he can't atone for. Now a serial rapist is stalking Cham's tourist-thronged streets, haunting the same shadows as Itchy and triggering an obsession which will lead him far from Europe's zenith, to the depths of the valley and himself.
The promise of Jonathan Trigell's first novel, Boy A, is fully realised in this evocation of the world of extreme sports, where the reckless violence of a callow man?s life comes back to haunt him.
In the intervening years he has tried hard with alcohol and adrenaline to numb a past he can't atone for. Now a serial rapist is stalking Cham's tourist-thronged streets, haunting the same shadows as Itchy and triggering an obsession which will lead him far from Europe's zenith, to the depths of the valley and himself.
The promise of Jonathan Trigell's first novel, Boy A, is fully realised in this evocation of the world of extreme sports, where the reckless violence of a callow man?s life comes back to haunt him.
Reviews / Votes
Jonathan Trigell's writing soars when describing the sublime mountain scenery and the rushing, redemptive exhilaration of skiing... But he's equally at ease conveying the murky moral ambiguity of Itchy's life...Exposing the darkness at the heart of a white world, Trigell's second novel is tense with foreboding: a clever, contemporary cliff hanger. * Metro * Does for extreme winter sports what Alex Garland's The Beach did for backpacking. * Financial Times * A book worth experiencing * NewBooksMag * Trigell's writing has the ability to reach down into the depths of people's souls and discover their murkiest secrets. At times, Cham is challenging, explicit and uncomfortable. -- Marion Johnson * Aesthetica magazine * Conveys the intoxicating nature of powder skiing, the awesome beauty of the mountains * Financial Times *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Profile Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
310 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84668-635-1 (9781846686351)
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
Other editions
Previous edition
Person
Jonathan Trigell was born in Welwyn in 1974. In 2002 he completed an MA in creative writing at Manchester University. He has been a TV extra, an outdoor pursuits instructor and a ski rep. His first novel, Boy A, won the prestigious John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for best work in the Commonwealth by an author under 35, and the Waverton Good Read Award, also for best first novel of 2004. Boy A is now a major feature film starring Andrew Garfield and Peter Mullan.