The last of John Burnside's three memoirs, I Put a Spell on You is an enthralling ode to love and wonder in all its forms

With a new introduction by Sean Hewitt

'A master of language' Hilary Mantel

The first time he was played 'I Put a Spell on You', John Burnside thought he had never heard a more beautiful song - it was an enchantment, a fascination that would turn to obsession. Implicit in the song were all the ambiguities that intrigued him - love, possession, and danger.

In this exquisite and haunting book, John Burnside evokes his coming of age from the industrial misery of Cowdenbeath and Corby to the new world of Cambridge, and follows his drifting thoughts and memories along the way: from uncanny encounters with 'lost girls' to digressions on voodoo, acid, and insomnia, alongside a cast that includes Kafka, Narcissus, Diane Arbus and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

The last of John Burnside's three memoirs, I Put a Spell on You is a memoir of romance - of lost love and the love of being lost - darkened by threat, illuminated by glamour.

'Astonishing... Not just brilliant, but essential reading' Independent

'Exact and enthralling' Tessa Hadley

About the Author
John Burnside was among the most acclaimed writers of his generation. His novels, short stories, poetry and memoirs won numerous awards, including the Geoffrey Faber Memorial, Saltire Scottish Book of the Year and, in 2023, he received the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime's achievement in literature. In 2011 Black Cat Bone won both the Forward and the T.S. Eliot Prizes for poetry. He died in 2024.

Reviews
A marvellously meandering, digressive study of the nature of love... Burnside has a lovely garrulousness that is distinctively his own... Exact and enthralling. * Guardian *
[An] indirect, peculiar, consuming memoir... Full of wonders. * Observer *
A wise and wryly glum autobiography written in a highly rewarding, pared-back style. * Sunday Times *
Captivating and unsettling... A work of scalding honesty. * Financial Times *
Intoxicating... Remarkable... A long-player that resonates long after the stylus has lifted. * Glasgow Sunday Herald *
Extraordinary, haunting... One reads this book and gets a very real sense of a writer who has thought through an individualistic and compelling way of looking at the world, one that does indeed cast a mightily powerful spell all of its own. * Scotland on Sunday *
Astonishing... Not just brilliant, but essential reading. * Independent *
Beautifully expressed and rich in ideas... Powerfully resonant. * Mail on Sunday *
Throughout this wonderful book Burnside shows himself incapable of a dull sentence or a shop-soiled thought. * Spectator *
A scintillating and insightful ragbag. * Telegraph *



Book Information
ISBN 9781529962864
Author John Burnside
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Vintage
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 212g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 19mm