The New Confessions — by William Boyd

A few years ago, after finishing yet another wonderful novel by Boyd, I decided to stop fooling around and buy all the rest of his books I hadn't yet read in one fell swoop, rather than order them piecemeal over the coming years.

Good move.

Because having a total of eight Boyd titles (seven novels and a short story collection initially, now down to five novels) sitting there on my prime "to-read" shelf — I have a six-tier "to-read" bookcase that's overflowing — makes me very content, knowing that no matter how bad or hard or otherwise unrewarding my current reading matter is, relief and pleasure is always close at hand.

"The New Confessions," published in 1987, is Boyd's fourth novel and sixth book (he's written seventeen).

Browse it here.

A peculiar and salutary thing about Boyd's writing is that it invariably soothes one's soul when troubled, thus making his books a perfect anodyne to life's inevitable crushing blows.

His style somehow lends itself to states of mind which simply can't make sense of most writing.

If you're in the mood, feel free to explore Boyd's website.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind.