RaveThe Skinny (UK)Identity, in all its complexities, is explored in this collection, with silence itself becoming a pillar in that construction ... Formally inventive, these pieces bring to the fore precise silences which so often fall between the gaps of reader recognition ... So much of All the Names Given is this unwrapping of necessary communications: it is a gift of realisations for the reader to explore and come back to again and again.
Tim Etchells
RaveThe SkinnyEndland is a merciless parade through a world molded by the violent looming of Brexit Britain, Google\'s all-seeing Big Brother eye and the political bloodshed of Thatcher\'s rule. Brutality and dark comedy is the beating heart of these stories; stories that are like acid trip fables gone oh so wrong ... Etchells is a master of language, viciously marrying online slang with the once-upon-a-time that every reader is familiar with. His clarity of meaning strikes the reader hard, with a barbarity and reality that stuns like the shock of diving headlong into frozen waters. It’s a pleasure and a revelation: it forces the reader to re-examine what language is capable of ...This is a distraughtly passionate kaleidoscope of a book, as soul-searching as it is a lacerated mannequin of a man. Pick it up though; it’s a savage and comical read, best enjoyed in stages.
Rachel Deloache Williams
PositiveThe Skinny... intimate and methodical ... The story grabs the reader’s attention in much the same way as a tabloid headline. Indeed, the concept of the book is dangerously close to being a longer, more detailed Wikipedia page. Thankfully, Williams adds some interesting texture through her authorial lens, illustrating Anna’s perfectly crafted authenticity from the viewpoint of the inner circle ... Delvey is a fascinating character, and watching the friendship between the two women develop is akin to watching a deceptively benign weed destroy a well-cultivated garden.
