RaveThe GuardianDadland uncovers Tom’s adventures in war, but these long, detailed passages of history-writing are framed by Keggie’s memories of family life, both glorious and painful, and by more recent tales of her father’s erratic behaviour ... Even though everything in it has interest, her book should have been shorter. But it’s full of tenderness, and her writing is nimble and handles emotion well ... 'I’ve been in thrall to Dad too many years,' she writes. 'It’s been hard to grow out of the need to impress. Be more fearless. Be wilder. Be braver. Be different. Think differently. Surprise! I knew Dad was out of the ordinary and I wanted to be too.' With the publication of this original, moving book, she has succeeded.
Patricia Lockwood
RaveThe Guardian...[a] dazzling comic memoir ... The New Yorker has described Lockwood as 'an exemplar of brilliant silliness,' and Priestdaddy is indeed brilliantly silly, with much comedy squeezed out of her Catholic upbringing ... Priestdaddy becomes in one sense a tribute to her [mother], both as an endless resource of love and care, and an intellectual kindred spirit.
RaveThe Guardian\"To Be a Machine is an attempt to understand the transhumanist movement on its own terms; it’s a conversational, approachable book, resembling a set of magazine articles skilfully bonded together. Even the more ridiculous of O’Connell’s subjects largely escape his condescension. Istvan, De Grey and the others have all been written up before, but O’Connell, in embarking on a longer quest, is able to draw out similarities in the lives of many of his believers, including libertarian politics and an unsurprising early interest in science fiction novels ... It’s O’Connell’s lack of stridency, as well as his often splendid writing, that makes him such a companionable guide.\
