The Sound of My Voice


Published by Birlinn Limited
A novel of an ordinary family man trying to fill the void inside with drink: “One of the greatest pieces of fiction to come out of Britain in the Eighties.” —Irvine Welsh

Morris Magellan is thirty-four years old and already two-thirds destroyed. By day he is an executive. After six and on weekends he is the husband of an understanding wife and the father of two. At all times he is a music lover and a drunk. Of the past he remembers only fear, and of the future he senses even greater terror to come; he is a man struggling from moment to moment to salvage something of himself before that too slips from his grasp.

On one level The Sound of My Voice tells the story of an alcoholic: a frantic attempt by some inner voice to halt an apparent need for self-destruction. More generally, it presents the conflict between modern man’s cowardice and cruelty, and a desperate attempt to recover humanity.

“One of the most inventive and daring novels ever to have come out of Scotland. Playful, haunting and moving, this is writing of the highest quality.” —Ian Rankin

“A powerful portrait of alcoholism and self-destruction.” —Bookseller

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