Teach Us to Sit Still

His journey will open your mind to the possibilities of mindfulness – Polly Vernon * Sunday Telegraph *
Teach us to Sit Still made me laugh; it made me cry; and it made me seriously think about taking up Vispassana meditation – Will Self * The Times *
A searingly honest, viscerally vivid, darkly comic self-examination of the connections between writing personality and health. Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to stop – David Lodge * Guardian *
This is a crazy, wince-inducing, uplifting book… Parks has done a service to the many people who would never look at a cheesy self-help book or try anything with a whiff of spirituality about it * Financial Times *
A movingly honest book that is about a great deal more than breathing and meditation – Susan Hill * The Lady *
Funny, painful and quietly profound book – Doug Johnstone * Scotsman *
Parks writes wonderfully well about his body as he is reluctantly reconciled to its existence alongside his mind… All the more moving for avoiding new age fakery. Anyone plagued by chronic aches and pains will find much to cheer them in this most unusual and engaging book – Jane Housham * Express *
Parks is an excellent writer, capable of writing wittily and with great beauty about the near indefinable * Seven, Sunday Telegraph *
Beautifully written and painfully honest…a fascinating, perceptive and rewarding read * The Big Issue *
[Parks] writes with forensic precision about all he experiences, physically and mentally… Even those free of illness will find Parks’s journey gives us much to ponder about the effects of modern living – Ben Felsenburg * Metro *

Born in Manchester, Tim Parks grew up in London and studied at Cambridge and Harvard. In 1981 he moved to Italy where he has lived ever since. He is the author of novels, non-fiction and essays, including Europa, Cleaver, A Season with Verona and Teach Us to Sit Still. He has won the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Llewellyn Rhys awards, and been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He lectures on literary translation in Milan, writes for publications such as the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, and his many translations from the Italian include works by Moravia, Calvino, Calasso, Tabucchi and Machiavelli.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.