Graham Swift (1) (1949–)

Author of Last Orders

For other authors named Graham Swift, see the disambiguation page.

20+ Works 9,665 Members 253 Reviews 3 Favorited

About the Author

British novelist Graham Swift was born in London on May 4, 1949. He attended Cambridge University and York University. Swift has written five novels, including Waterland. (Bowker Author Biography) Novelist Graham Swift was born in London, England on May 4, 1949. He attended Cambridge University show more where he received a B.A. in 1970, and an M.A. in 1975. He also attended York University from 1970-73. He taught English part time at several London Colleges between the years 1974 to1983. Swift's fiction tends to touch upon the subject of World War II as well as exploring the larger subject of history. "Waterland" established Swift's reputation and was made into a major film. He also wrote "Last Orders" and his novels have won a variety of prestigious literary awards and have been widely translated. Swift was an avid fisherman and co-edited an anthology of fishing in literature. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Image credit: Ekko von Schwichow

Works by Graham Swift

Popular Recent

Last Orders (1996) 2,745 copies

Waterland (1983) 2,373 copies

The Light of Day (2003) 890 copies

Mothering Sunday (2016) 809 copies

Tomorrow (2007) 470 copies

Ever After (1992) 433 copies

Wish You Were Here (2011) 310 copies

Shuttlecock (1981) 307 copies

Out of This World (1988) 305 copies

The Sweet Shop Owner (1980) 280 copies

Here We Are (2020) 276 copies

Learning to Swim and Other Stories (1982) 179 copies

England and Other Stories (2014) 152 copies

Making an Elephant: Writing from Within (2009) 109 copies

The Magic Wheel: Anthology of Fishing in Literature (1985) — Editor — 11 copies

Waterland / Last Orders 7 copies

Chemistry (2008) 4 copies

Su Diyari (2007) 3 copies

Swift Graham 1 copy

Regimybės: romanas (2020) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories (1989) — Contributor — 423 copies

The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories (1999) — Contributor — 339 copies

Granta 65: London (1999) — Contributor — 218 copies

Granta 87: Jubilee! The 25th Anniversary Issue (2004) — Contributor — 199 copies

Granta 52: Food : The Vital Stuff (1995) — Contributor — 146 copies

Granta 30: New Europe (1990) — Contributor — 146 copies

Granta 69: The Assassin (2000) — Contributor — 127 copies

Granta 36: Vargas Llosa for President (1991) — Contributor — 126 copies

Granta 7: Best of Young British Novelists (1983) — Contributor — 91 copies

21: 21 Picador Authors Celebrate 21 Years of International Writing (1993) — Contributor — 53 copies

Granta 9: John Berger, Boris (1983) — Contributor — 43 copies

Beach : Stories by the Sand and Sea (2000) — Contributor — 32 copies

Last Orders [2001 film] (2001) — Original Book — 31 copies

AQA Anthology (2002) — Author, some editions — 19 copies

20 Under 35: Original Stories by Britain's Best New Young Writers (1988) — Introduction — 11 copies

Contemporary English stories Nouvelles anglaises contemporaines (2006) — Contributor — 3 copies

Tagged

1001 (50) 1001 books (46) 20th century (156) 21st century (34) anthology (149) Booker (58) Booker Prize (119) Booker Prize Shortlist (37) Booker Prize Winner (57) Britain (46) British (202) British fiction (83) British literature (111) contemporary fiction (42) death (69) ebook (32) England (211) English (67) English fiction (54) English literature (172) essays (86) family (40) fiction (1,648) friendship (63) Granta (180) historical fiction (35) history (41) literary fiction (65) literary journal (49) literature (204) London (59) non-fiction (53) novel (318) read (117) Roman (42) short stories (273) signed (36) to-read (410) UK (73) unread (77)

Common Knowledge

Legal name: Swift, Graham Colin
Birthdate: 1949-05-04
Gender: male
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: London, England, UK

Members

Reviews

Here We Are: A novel by Graham Swift

Somehow this book just completely failed to make any sort of impression on me at all. It follows three people who are in show business as magicians in the 1950s, and flashes back to their childhoods and forward to their old age. The main character was an evacuee in WWII as a child, and was sent to live in an idyllic home where his host family taught him to be a stage magician. He later recruits a couple to join his act, and the relationship between the three of them gets complicated.

I think the book was fine? The characters were reasonably interesting and well-developed? The writing was pretty good? I dunno... I don't really have any complaints about the book, but I don't really have any praise for it either.… (more)

Flagged

Gwendydd | 14 other reviews | Oct 22, 2023 |

Last Orders by Graham Swift

Reason read: Booker award winner of 1996, by Graham Swift of a journey that group of war veterans make from Bermondsey to Margate to spread the ashes of one of them who has died. This book reminded me of As I Lay Dying by Faulkner and I guess the author did write this in homage to Faulkner. Last Orders can stand for the wish of the dead man to have his ashes scattered at sea or the last call for drinks at a bar. I liked the story well enough but I do think I liked As I Lay Dying more.

Flagged

Kristelh | 42 other reviews | Sep 4, 2023 |

Last Orders by Graham Swift

Firstly this book is a lot shorter than it appears, the print is big and there are many small chapters. I got through it very quickly. It starts off in a pub and spends quite a lot of time there throughout the book. It covers a day when 4 men take a friends ashes from London to Margate to scatter them into the sea, but as the day progresses we hear more about their lives, relationships, families, and past history. Its a bit bloke-centric but overall I liked how the emotional background between them all gradually revealed itself in a quiet unassuming way.… (more)

Flagged

AlisonSakai | 42 other reviews | Jul 12, 2023 |

The Light Of Day by Graham Swift

A thorough drawing and development of characters, but a little over written given an obsessive and unpromising love story about a private investigator and a gaoled woman who has murdered her cheating husband. It is good because it's written by Graham Swift who always delivers quality.

Flagged

ivanfranko | 27 other reviews | May 8, 2023 |

See More Reviews