How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer

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About Julie Orringer

Biography

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How to Breathe Underwater

» Julie Orringer

Penguin
Paperback : 07 Apr 2005

£8.99

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'Unbelievably good: the humiliations and cruelties and passions of childhood, sparkling fresh prose, a writer with a big heart and an acute sense of the small things that loom large in our lives'
Monica Ali, Guardian

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Synopsis

In her dazzling first book Julie Orringer dives into the private world of childhood and immerses us in its fears and longings: the jealous friendships and the bitter sibling battles; the parents that row and the boys that won't dance with you. Then, in a voice that is equally tender and compassionate, she reminds us of those rare, exhilarating moments of victory.

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Reviews

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Critic Review:

‘Outstanding. Orringer writes about the things that everyone writes about – youth, friendship, death, grief – but her narrative settings are fresh and wonderfully knotty’
Nick Hornby

‘An amazing debut. Conjures the same exhilaration I felt on reading Lorrie Moore’s Self-Help and Melissa Bank’s The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing’
Daily Telegraph

‘Exquisite . . . clear-eyed, compassionate and deeply moving’
Emily Perkins, Guardian

‘Strikingly accomplished: there are pages here that had me dry-mouthed, toes curling with anxiety. You can’t read her uninvolved; she engages the heart’
Daily Mail

‘Haunting and mysterious, flawless and brilliant’
Observer

‘Among the best writing I have encountered in the past few years’
The Times