The Adult
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:1st Aug '13
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Winner of the Somerset Maugham Prize and shortlisted for the Portico Prize - The Adult is a novel of life in the shadow of the limelight, and other twenty-first-century tribulations.
Jim Thorne. He wants to understand love. His mum. Her three sisters have epic perms. And they're famous. His dad. He is focused on a vital question: Mario or Sonic? It's England, 1989-2009. So expect a little history. The dolphin's name is Dilly.
WINNER OF THE SOMERSET MAUGHAM PRIZE
'Funny, sad, bewildering and painfully honest, it’s a must-read for all fans of Joe Dunthorne’s Submarine' Emerald Street
Jim Thorne.
He wants to understand love.
His mum.
Her three sisters have epic perms.
And they’re famous.
His dad.
He is focused on a vital question:
Mario or Sonic?
It’s England, 1989–2009.
So expect a little history.
The dolphin's name is Dilly.
The Adult is a tremendous novel. It takes its place with some of the very best of its genre – the right of passage. Very few people can do it well. Stretch has done it superbly well. I’m not surprised it won the Somerset Maugham Award. I’m sure it will go on to be widely read and cited. I do hope so -- Melvyn Bragg
Very funny, beautifully wrought -- Toby Clements * Daily Telegraph *
A properly bollock-droppingly brilliant novel * Dazed & Confused *
I knew from the first page that this was going to be a very funny book, but I didn't realise it would have so much heart and be so beautiful -- Evie Wyld
So enjoyable... The Adult is closer to a state-of-the-nation novel than any typical bildungsroman * Guardian *
A ribald, well-observed, coming-of-age comedy… Beautifully wrought mockery of everything from smoothie bars to Gary Barlow’s early solo career * Metro *
Bursting with wit… addictive * Stylist *
Warm, funny and nostalgic enough to have you digging out your Global Hypercolor T-shirt and fluoro toweling socks * Short List *
Raucously funny and achingly sad. Written with thrilling verve and wince-making acuity, The Adult marks Joe Stretch out as a unique and vital voice -- Gwendoline Riley
Savage, hilarious, uncannily moving, and true. It's the first novel I've read that burns with all the madness, sadness and refracted terror of right now, and everyone should read it. Right now -- Jacob Polley
- Winner of Somerset Maugham Award 2013 (UK)
ISBN: 9780099570288
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 16mm
Weight: 181g
256 pages