Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Armistead Maupin
`I was completely enthralled by "Notes from an Exhibition." Patrick's Gale's prose grows ever more acrobatic and heartstopping, though somehow he never seems to be showing off. And few writers have grasped the twisted dynamics of family the way Gale has. There's really no one he can't inhabit, understand and forgive.' Armistead Maupin

Guardian
`This is an uplifting, immensely empathetic novel, and Gale's prose, as ever is as clear and bright as the Cornish light.'

Sunday Times
'It has the kind of quietly radiant intelligence, craft and integrity that bypasses superficial questions of originality. A novel with a variety and freshness that is all the more powerful and surprising for being discovering in such a circumscribed and very English milieu.' Adam Lively,

Customer Reviews

Notes from an exhibition
A really beautiful book - amazing for a frst novel. Would like more like that please.

A very clever book
This is the first Patrick Gale novel I have read. I rather think it won't be the last. I was attracted by the subject matter. The link between creativity and mental health is fascinating and, given such a vast topic I think this book works brilliantly. It brings living with a mental health disorder into everyday terms and made it real; accessible without being patronising or facile. In terms of the writing quality, I was very impressed with the apparent ease with which Gale moves between perspectives; each character has a very distinctive voice of their own that is reflected in the narrative and adds to the absorbing quality of the book. By the end some gaps have been filled but there's no sense of every loose end being tied up - the realism doesn't let up for an instant. I feel I want more but know that "more" would be too much. The final scene, which should be harrowing, is sublimely beautiful.

Notes from an Exhibition
This is a lovely, tender , powerful book.
The intricate relationships that make up a family are slowly revealed as you read , so that gradually the picture of each family member's interdependency and shared life unfolds .
Its a beautifully structured book that little by little allows each piece of the jigsaw to fall into place , each character draws you in a little further to understanding .
Patrick Gale writes hauntingly from a child's perspective and also from that of a troubled , passionate artistic mind .
I loved it from beginning to satisfying end and it made me long to be walking again on the Cornish coast land that's so vividly described as a background to the family's story .