{"product_id":"9781904999881","title":"Scottish Writers Talking 4","description":"This is the fourth and final volume in a series begun by Isobel Murray and Bob Tait in 1984.\u003cp\u003eAuthors covered in previous volumes include: \u003cbr\u003e1. George Mackay Brown, Jessie Kesson, Norman MacCaig, William McIlvanney, and David Toulmin.\u003cbr\u003e2. Iain Banks, Bernard MacLaverty, Naomi Mitchison, Iain Crichton Smith,Alan Spence. \u003cbr\u003e3. Janice Galloway, John Herdman, Robin Jenkins, Joan Lingard, Ali Smith.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExtracts from Reviews for Volume 3\u003cbr\u003eMurray is a fine interviewer as well as an incisive critic, academic and biographer. These aren’t the kind of interviews that merely gift-wrap the books under discussion; here she’s putting whole careers up for lively discussion, and unless she has read every word she wouldn’t dream of pressing the tape recorder’s “on” button.\u003cbr\u003eThis is one book it would be impossible to read without wanting to re-read at least half a dozen more straight away.\u003cbr\u003e David Robinson, The Scotsman\u003cbr\u003eOne woman has for several years been circumventing the tired old restrictions and distortions of the formula. Isobel Murray, Honorary Professor in Modern Scottish Literature at Aberdeen University, has been getting writers to talk, at length, on tape ... It is an utterly gripping collection. Because the writers are allowed to express themselves without being manipulated or paraphrased, their conversation evolves into real revelation.\u003cbr\u003eMurray’s consummate skill as an interviewer. She never intrudes, or interrupts, or postures. Her deep knowledge and understanding of literature and writing act as a sort of psychological water diviner, drawing out descriptions and confidences that a less clever interrogator would never bring to the surface. The obvious luminaries of this series may be the writers, but the pole star is Murray. Most other interviewers are mere astral dust by comparison.\u003cbr\u003e Rosemary Goring, The Herald\u003cbr\u003eSimply indispensable.\u003cbr\u003e Hugh MacDonald, The Herald\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kennedy \u0026 Boyd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47019313070320,"sku":"9781904999881","price":20.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781904999881_p0.jpg?v=1763614193","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781904999881","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}