{"product_id":"9780008390969","title":"Sea State: Shortlisted FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE","description":"\u003cp\u003e\n          \u003cstrong\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eSea State \u003c\/em\u003emarks the arrival of a gifted and exciting new voice’ Jon McGregor, author of\u003cem\u003e Reservoir 13\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n        \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n          \u003cstrong\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE\u003c\/strong\u003e\n          \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE PORTICO PRIZE\u003c\/strong\u003e\n          \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/em\u003e BEST BOOK OF 2021\u003c\/strong\u003e\n        \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n          \u003cstrong\u003eA candid examination of the life of North Sea oil riggers, and an explosive portrayal of masculinity, loneliness and female desire.\u003c\/strong\u003e\n        \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn her mid-30s and sprung out of a terrible relationship, Tabitha quit her job at a women’s magazine, left London and put her savings into a six-month lease on a flat in a dodgy neighbourhood in Aberdeen – she was going to make good on a long-deferred idea for a book about oil rigs and the men who work on them. Why oil rigs? “I wanted to see what men were like, with no women around.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSea State\u003c\/em\u003e is, on the one hand, a portrait of an overlooked industry, and a fascinating subculture in its own right: ‘offshore’ is a way of life for generations of British workers, primarily working class men. Offshore is also a potent metaphor for a lot of things we might rather keep at bay – class, masculinity, the North-South divide, the transactional nature of desire, the terrible slipperiness of the ladder that could lead us towards (or away from) real security, just out of reach.‎\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd \u003cem\u003eSea State\u003c\/em\u003e is, too, the story of a journalist whose distance from her subject becomes perilously thin. In Aberdeen, when she’s not researching the book, Tabitha takes pills and dances with a forgotten kind of abandon – reliving her Merseyside youth, when the music was good and the boys were bad. Twenty years on, there is Caden: a married rig worker who spends three weeks on and three weeks off. Alone and increasingly precarious, she dives in deep. The relationship, reckless and explosive, lays them both bare.‎\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Sea State, Tabitha Lasley delves into the nautical world of oil riggers, exploring the social dynamics and personal experiences of these primarily working class men. Her exploration of this unique habitat, the seas and oceans, is not just a biography of the men she encounters, but also an autobiography of her own journey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Olivia Laing (The Lonely City), Amy Liptrot (The Instant), Annie Ernaux (A Woman's Story – WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE), Angela Hui (Takeaway), and Amy Key (Arrangements in Blue).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tabitha Lasley, Read by Laoise Sweeney","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46889113518229,"sku":"9780008390969","price":31.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780008390969_d31b3c3a-f8ce-44ab-8d5f-1c7b8f9da2b8.jpg?v=1776992594","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780008390969","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}