Malc's Boy

Reviews / Votes

'A stunning, hilarious
depiction of northern working-class violent masculinity conveyed - in a skewed
way - through the form of experimental literary fiction.'

Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick



'Original, fierce, funny, poignant and real... He refuses to surrender his masculinity or to stand outside of
it in a book about masculinity, which is exactly what is called for, in art.'

David Keenan, author of For the Good Times



'Malc's Boy is a shapeshifting novel exploring the beauty and
violence of northern, working-class masculinity. The fluid, experimental form interrogates the notion of
authorship and questions what it means to tell the story of places and people
in their own voices and on their own terms - I am very excited to follow
its journey.'

Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater



'Very compelling. I often find anything experimental a bit
bloodless and cold but there is a real fleshy, gritty warmth to this. I love the way he pushes the boundaries of the form. Innovative, original and atmospheric.'

Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love



'I tip [Shaun Wilson]
for big things...'

Kerry Hudson, author of Thirst



'Shaun Wilson is a
startling new voice in literary fiction, a writer of breathtaking originality who somehow
manages to be savage, lyrical and darkly comedic all at once. Malc's Boy does for the Lake District
what Trainspotting did for Edinburgh.'

Andrew Crumey, author of Sputnik Caledonia



'Tears the notion of the bildungsroman to shreds. A boy learns toxic masculinity from his loving father and happily
grows up without any sort of moral compass. A tonic for all those sick of tedious novels about
rich people's
problems.'

Stewart Home, author of Fascist Yoga



'Shaun Wilson treads the liminal trails which wend between verity
and story - or even perhaps between dirty reality and dirty realism - to
discover a quiddity of truth more faithful than the pure form of either state.
And, as is so often the case in the bad-lands of border country, there is a stark beauty in this place.'

Jonathan Trigell, author of Boy A

'The best books are the ones which
march into your imagination and occupy a place in it. Malc's Boy is like that: funny, frightening and utterly convincing, it doesn't so much wear its heart on its sleeve as staple it there, take a
photograph and then dissect the concepts of 'heart'
and 'sleeve' for good measure. It's a working-class memoir which confidently negotiates the unease
of writing all this stuff down, and a story told in a compelling voice. Shaun
Wilson is a proper talent.'

Tony Williams, author of All the Bananas I've Never Eaten and Nutcase



'Malc's Boy marries authentic Cumbrian dialect with an
almost dizzying range of language and styles, high and low, philosophical, lyrical, funny and sometimes
downright dirty.'

Ann Rower, author of If You're a Girl: Selected Stories 1985-2023



'Stunning. I love how it careers from the
brutal to the beautiful.'

Tony Walsh, poet and author of This is the Place


'Malc's Boy is a raw, unflinching debut
that dissects the turbulent bond between a son and his formidable father. From
working-class life Wilson crafts a bold, emotionally charged, funny and
beautiful tale that lingers long after the final page.'
Lee Rourke, author of Glitch

'Malc's Boy is a superb and blistering novel - like D.H. Lawrence spliced with Knausgaard and a dash of Irvine Welsh. Shaun Wilson writes with gripping verve from the guts of intimate Northern experience, allowing his material to shape and animate its own form. The contrivances of by-numbers fiction be damned.'
Rob Doyle, author of Cameo

'This pathbreaking autofictional work departs
from the typical novel of working-class improvement or moral uplift, focusing
instead on a narrative that is less heroic but more authentically
representative of Northern working-class life. The language, dialect, plot and
character all ring true and there is hardly a misplaced word.'
Hywel Dix,
editor of Autofiction in English



'Malc's Boy captures Cumbrian life with
biting authenticity and brings together sharp humour and deep feeling in a way
that only local colour can. It is not so much a voice novel as it is a novel
about the power of having a voice and how we understand ourselves in stories
gone untold.'
Scott Preston, author of The Borrowed
Hills

'A moving, polyvocalic exploration of a young man's
struggle with the pressures of toxic masculinity, rendered with impressive
technical skill. Malc's Boy may not always be a comfortable read, but it
is a necessary one.'
Louise Powell, author of Underdogs



'I've been anticipating Shaun Wilson's debut for
years, and the finished book is just as innovative and brutal as those early
extracts promised! Malc's Boy is raw and real and full of insecure
bravado: an unflinching interrogation of masculinity, and of a side of Cumbria
not found on a daffodil tea towel.'
Katie Hale, author of The
Edge of Solitude



'Original, fierce and funny, Malc's Boy
confirms Wilson as a major new literary talent.'
Doug
Johnstone, author of Tombstoning