An exhilarating, outdoor song of hope and vision, The Perfect Golden Circle taps into something charged, ancient and elemental in England and its people -- ROB DOYLE A windswept, brutal tale of eighteenth-century Yorkshire told in starkly beautiful prose.”― The Guardian Depraved and decadent … His prose is beautifully controlled and so graphic it’s impossible not to picture the scenes he conjures up in striking detail. There is no hiding from the darkness because the writing is so damned good.”—Val McDermid, The Guardian Benjamin Myers uses the efforts of the real-life Bower and Chorley as the jumping-off point for his latest novel…[it]has much to say about art, but it also has an allegorical feel.” — The Star Tribune The Perfect Golden Circle is a triumph of a book, showcasing a writer at his very best. There is a huge heart beating in this magical story. A heartfelt story that is transformative and transportive ... Moving and exhilarating, tender and slyly witty, The Perfect Golden Circle is a captivating novel about the futility of war, the destruction of the English countryside, class inequality - and the power of beauty to heal trauma and fight power * STORGY *

The Perfect Golden Circle: Selected for BBC 2 Between the

Mr. Myers’s version is condensed into a single summer in 1989. His duo of crop circlers consists of Redbone, a “crust-punk” hippie who dreams up increasingly complex geometric patterns, and Calvert, a severely traumatized veteran of the Falklands War who does the legwork of finding usable fields. The odd couple is united by a complementary hatred of England and love of its land and roots. Begun as a lark, the crop circles provide them a lifeline. Their shared code is to “fuel the myth and strive for beauty.” The two protagonists in the story are truly driven by their art, and their deep-seated need to bring their increasingly grandiose visions to life.” — Artnet One of my books of the year … It’s the best thing Myers has done.”―Robert Macfarlane, Big Issue Books of the Year This one sounds great, I’ll look out for it but I’m not going to reserve it at the library because the books keep coming when I don’t have time to read them…No, indeed, you can’t. The Perfect Golden Circle is sublime, it reels you in and caresses you with its poetically beautiful prose. Highly recommended for fans of literary fiction and eco-literature. I thought it was divine. A strange, magical extraordinary book. It's so atmospheric, so strange and affecting. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it before, and I'm not sure how Myers has made it work, but he has - I was totally gripped by this -- JENN ASHWORTH

The Perfect Golden Circle - Bloomsbury Publishing

Planet Radio scala radio entertainment books Scala Radio Book Club: The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers And as the summer wears on, and their designs grow ever more ambitious, the two men find that their work has become a cult international sensation—and that an unlikely and beautiful friendship has taken root as the wheat ripens from green to gold. A person with an interest in the crop circle phenomenon. Such individuals may be of varying belief, sanity and intelligence. This is the second novel by Benjamin Myers that I have read, Beastings being the first. The Perfect Golden Circle couldn’t be more different to Beastings, which was far darker and written in a completely different style. Yet, the beauty of Benjamin’s writing persists across both novels. I really do need to read more of his work, I love the way he writes. Take this, for example, which is about an eclipse:

An epic human tale that feels as if it was ripped from English folklore. One in which questions of friendship, creatiive expression, and the life purpose collde with modern British history. A must-read for every Anglophile.”—Roger Bennett, Men in Blazers, author of (Re)Born in the USA Quietly gripping ... Written with Myers's customary grit and brio ... A welcome advance, one that sees Myers effortlessly extending his range * GUARDIAN * Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men — Calvert, an ex-soldier traumatized by his experience in the Falklands War, and his affable, off-the-grid friend Redbone — set out nightly in a decrepit camper van to undertake an extraordinary project,traversing the fields of rural England and creating crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns. One of the most interesting, restless writers of his generation ... Unfurling at the unhurried pace of a fern, it's an evocatively lyrical paean to the countryside - deeply felt and closely observed * DAILY MAIL *

Perfect Golden Circle’ by Benjamin Myers - WSJ Fiction: ‘The Perfect Golden Circle’ by Benjamin Myers - WSJ

People just want to believe in something bigger than all this. Something beyond. It takes them away from the mundane details of their tiny lives. You can’t blame them.’ Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men — Calvert, an ex-soldier traumatized by his experience in the Falklands War, and his affable freind Redbone — set out nightly in a decrepit camper van to undertake an extraordinary project. Under cover of darkness, they traverse the fields of rural England in secret, forming crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns, painstakingly avoiding damaging the wheat to yield designs so intricate that their overnight appearances inspire awe amongst a mystified public.Set in rural England, 1989, The Perfect Golden Circle tells the story of two men who set out over the course of a summer to form elaborate crop circle patterns in the wheat fields under the cover of darkness. As their circles become increasingly intricate, their work gathers an international cult like following, pushing them to further their designs beyond anything ever seen before. Calvert is a Falklands veteran, suffering post traumatic stress, whilst Redbone is a free-wheeling traveller of sorts, a musician who has wandered Europe with various small-time bands, living a life of protest and substance enhanced contemplation. Two vastly different men, the most unlikely of friendships. Nobody does troubled figures in a stunning landscape like Ben Myers. He’s a major force in the English novel and he gets better with every book.” — Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers

The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers | Goodreads

The Perfect Golden Circle staggers the reader with its wit and beauty and the power of its charged poetry. Myers offers both a soulful portrait of a friendship between two damaged, resilient men and a series of striking glimpses into war, mythology, politics, history, the natural world and art. Like the creations of its protagonists, the impressions this novel leaves are majestic, mysterious and lasting -- SAM LIPSYTE The beauty of Myers’ language alone is reward enough to read this superb novel, but The Perfect Golden Circle offers so much more: an all-too-rare literary depiction of rural England, the depths of the two central characters, the class and ecological concerns; but most of all the human need for what the Welsh poet Bobi Jones called ‘the boundless mystery that comforts being.’A truly remarkable novel.” — Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena Summer 1989, deep in the English countryside — during a time of mass unemployment, class war, and rebellion . . . . An investigation of trauma, class, healing and male friendship * GUARDIAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022 * Book by book, over the past decade, Ben Myers has proved himself to be one of the most singular, moving, and crucial voices of our times.” — David Peace, author of the Red Riding Quartet

Even as the book explores a 33-year-old historical moment, its concerns — income inequality, police brutality and climate change, among them — remain remarkably current.” — The Southern California News Group In this folksy, magnetic tale, two outsiders seek healing and enlightenment by creating crop formations in a Wiltshire field ... combining lyricism with comedy and themes that range from warfare and environmental calamity to hope and healing ... A memorable hymn to beauty * OBSERVER *