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Our Nicky’s Heart
Graham Swift
‘Frank Randall had three sons: Michael, Eddy and Mark. That was fine by him‘.
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‘Feelings can be very obscure but numbers never lie.’
Kevin Brazil on metrics, obsession and fitness.
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‘An intense workout is an ecstasy of punishment packaged as self-improvement.’
Mary Wellesley on exercise, ritual and Barry’s Bootcamp.
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‘I was not good at sports because I would not do sports because I did not have the body for sports because I would not do sports.’
Saba Sams on girlhood, embodiment and avoiding sports.
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‘Following United rarely brings me any great joy and most often it depresses me. If I could disengage, I would.’
Jonny Thakkar on Manchester United.
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‘I deployed my body against an opponent like a blunt and effective instrument.’
John Patrick McHugh on playing Gaelic football.
Graham Swift
Graham Swift’s novels include Waterland, Shuttlecock and Last Orders, which won the Booker Prize in 1996. His most recent work is England and Other Stories (2014). He was one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 1983.
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