{"product_id":"9781529962871","title":"Waking Up in Toytown","description":"Author: Burnside, John\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781529962871\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: RANDOM HOUSE UK\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 25 Nov 2025\u003cbr\u003ePages: 288\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith wit, precision and grace, John Burnside's second memoir traces the aftershocks of a troubled childhood into troubled adulthood - with a new introduction by Sarah Perry\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith wit, precision and grace, John Burnside's second memoir traces the aftershocks of a troubled childhood into troubled adulthood.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith a new introduction by Sarah Perry\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Among the best writers of his generation, fully voiced and perfectly pitched' Andrew O'Hagan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the early 80s, after a decade of drug abuse and borderline mental illness, John Burnside resolved to escape his addictive personality and find calm in a 'Surbiton of the mind.' But the suburbs are not quite as normal as he had imagined, and he relapses into chaos.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe encounters a homicidal office worker who is obsessed with Alfred Hitchcock and Petula Clark, an old lover, with whom he reprises a troubled, masochistic relationship and, finally, the seemingly flesh-and-blood embodiments of all his private phantoms, as he drifts further into unreality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe second of John Burnside's extraordinary trilogy of memoirs, \u003ci\u003eWaking Up in Toytown\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of one man's search for sanity - but also the story of love that outgrows its restraints and a scorching enquiry into the soul, from one of our greatest contemporary writers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Burnside's memoir deserves to become a classic. Has anyone written about the direct experience of mental illness with such scrupulous observation and wit?' \u003ci\u003eDaily Express\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46727031554206,"sku":"UBD-9781529962871","price":26.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781529962871.jpg?v=1776491744","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781529962871","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}