Rare Singles: Signed Edition

Hardback Published on: 01/08/2024
Price: £18.99
Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £2.99
Not available
This product is currently unavailable
Make and edit your lists in your account
No stock available in any shop.
Not available
This product is currently unavailable
No stock available in any shop.

Bookseller Reviews

View all
Rare Singles
Soul Survivors
On the surface, a more straightforward affair than his previous book, the kaleidoscopic 'Cuddy', Ben Myers new novel is centred on Bucky Bronco, a down-at-... READ MORE
Paul Thornton
Rare Singles
Wonderful
This was beautiful, poignant and my heart definitely cracked a little. A fantastic mix of immersive descriptions, wonderful characters and some heartbreaki... READ MORE
Chrys - Plymouth
Rare Singles
Heart and (Northern) soul
To discover the soulful underbelly of the north-east of England through the eyes of a landlocked, beaten-up roughshod American soul singer, questioning the... READ MORE
Phill - Waterstones Bookseller
Rare Singles
Hopeful and soulful ....
Just finished it this afternoon and had a smile on my face since. Benjamin Myers has gone off in yet another direction and come up with a hopeful, soulful ... READ MORE
Mark at Wolves
Rare Singles
Keep the Faith
I came quite late to Benjamin Myers, The Perfect Golden Circle Circle was my first read, though I have loved everything I have read by him. A much more com... READ MORE
Richard  Wealthall
Rare Singles
A gem of a novel with heartwarming characters
I had no idea what to expect from Rare Singles. Apart from always meaning to read Myers’ work, I was drawn to the Scarborough setting. What I got was an un... READ MORE
Michelle, Chesterfield
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Rare Singles
Tri down memory lane
Thanks to Bloomsbury for the Proof. The character Bucky resonates with me in that his knees hurt and he is slowing down. But I do not have the talent, he i... READ MORE
ENEFCEE 1956
Rare Singles
A joyful story of redemption
What a joy this book is! There is a gritty realism to ‘Rare Singles’ but the story unfolds never-the-less with a natural grace: rough edges, uncomfortabl... READ MORE
Julia Brigdale
Rare Singles
Heartfelt tale of love, loss & music
Thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me a reading copy of this book. It is a book about an ageing, grieving American musician (Bucky Bronco), who out of th... READ MORE
Candace Greatbanks

Synopsis

A warm, tender and funny story about unlikely friendships, second chances, and the magic of soul music - perfect for fans of Nick Hornby, David Nicholls and Jonathan Coe.

Dinah has always lived in Scarborough. Trapped with her feckless husband and useless son, her one release comes at her town’s Northern Soul nights, where she gets to put on her best and lose herself in the classics.

Dinah has an especial hero: Bucky Bronco, who recorded a string of soul gems in the late Sixties and then vanished off the face of the earth. When she manages to contact Bucky she can’t believe her luck.

Over in Chicago, Bucky Bronco is down on his luck – and has been since the loss of his beloved wife Maybelle. The best he can hope for is to make ends meet, and try and stay high. But then an unexpected invitation arrives, from someone he’s never met, to come to somewhere he’s never heard of. With nothing to lose – and in need of the cash – Bucky boards a plane.

And so Bucky finds himself in rainy Scarborough, where everyone seems to know who is – preparing to play for an audience for the first time in nearly half a century. Over the course of the week, he finds himself striking up new and unexpected friendships; and facing his past, and its losses, for the very first time. Wise, hilarious and profound, Rare Singles is an unforgettable story about the power of music and friendship to bring us back to ourselves.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • ISBN: 9781526683205
  • Number of pages: 224
  • Dimensions: 236 x 154 x 22 mm
  • Weight: 410g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

View all
Rare Singles
A weekend of Northern Soul
When Bucky Bronco is invited to perform at a Northern Soul weekend in Scarborough, he decides to take a chance and board a plane. Addicted to pain killers ... READ MORE
Gemsiek
Rare Singles
Northern soul
Rare Singles - Benjamin Myers Earlon ‘Bucky’ Bronco had a brush with fame a long time ago, but lives on in the Northern Soul scene. Dinah, married to a... READ MORE
Kev McCready
Rare Singles
Worth 5 star for Bucky alone - great writing too
Bucky Bronco was a soul singer in the late Sixties in America. While he recorded a couple of singles only one of them was fully published. "Stuff" happen... READ MORE
Nigel
Rare Singles
Gorgeous
Earlon 'Bucky' Bronco is an old man living in pain and grief and just waiting to die. When he is contacted regarding a record he made when he was seventeen... READ MORE
Katy Wheatley
Rare Singles
Fantastic
Dinah has always lived in Scarborough. Trapped with her feckless husband and useless son, her one release comes at her town’s Northern Soul nights, where s... READ MORE
steve cripwell
Rare Singles
A feelgood novel light woven through with a state-of-the-nation theme
Spanning three days, Rare Singles is about an American singer in his seventies who’s accepted an invitation to headline a Northern Soul weekender in Scarbo... READ MORE
Susan Osborne
Rare Singles
A beautiful story about love, passion and redemption
God help me but I love Ben Myers work. If you read all his novels one after another you'll be utterly puzzled about what genre the man works in. Thankfully... READ MORE
Kateoshea
Rare Singles
Life, death and northern soul
Rare Singles might be described as "minor" Ben Myers, because its scale and ambition are much smaller than Cuddy, for example, but that would be unfair bec... READ MORE
Michael Jopling
Rare Singles
An absolute joy from start to finish
Without any doubt, Rare Singles is one of the best reads of 2024. Earlon " Bucky" Bronco is a soul singer; in 1968 he recorded two /three songs that nev... READ MORE
Stephen - The Bookworm
Rare Singles
A book with Soul
US singer Earlon Bucky Bronco recorded one single and another song that never saw the light of day, as he disappeared from the limelight. Now, decades la... READ MORE
Daren Kearl
Rare Singles
An uneven but uplifting love letter to Northern Soul
From multi-hyphenate writer Myers comes his latest, the fictional long-awaited comeback of an American soul legend at a Northen Soul Weekender in Scarborou... READ MORE
Huttson Lo
Rare Singles
Rare Singles
This book is an absolute delight... We start with a one hit wonder - Bucky Bronco - who, soon after hitting the heady heights with a major hit back in the ... READ MORE
Ashrae
Rare Singles
Heart Meltingly Brilliant!
Thank you to the publishers for this early review copy. I am pleased to report that I adored this read. Just loved the storyline, the characters, the set... READ MORE
Fiona Sharp
Rare Singles
Heart felt and beautifully written
4* Rare Single by Benjamin Myers. The heart-warming story of Bucky, a recently widowed man who has become insular in his Chicago life and the unexpected cu... READ MORE
Nic Johnston
Rare Singles
Joyous and life-affirming
'Rare Singles' is a joyous, life-affirming novel about music, pain, loss and second chances from one of the most versatile authors writing today. Set over ... READ MORE
Stephen Dilley
Rare Singles
Poetry and beauty in simple things, messy things.
This feels populated by real people, in their messy, complicated and frustrating lives. I have not read anything by Benjamin Myers before but will look out... READ MORE
tess lock
Rare Singles
A complete joy
Bucky Bronco is still grieving his wife Maybell when he is asked to go to England to appear at a festival. Bucky wrote and recorded a couple of tracks whe... READ MORE
Jo-anne Atkinson
Rare Singles
Highly recommended
I loved as it made me smile and think. Well written and well plotted, food for thought and life affirming Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publishe... READ MORE
AMG
Rare Singles
really enjoyable
This was a really enjoyable book, full of music, life, death, grief, love and everything in between. And what a joy that it was set in Scarborough and the ... READ MORE
jean
Rare Singles
Rare Singles
A book with a great heart! I very much enjoyed the descriptions of Scarborough life and Northern Soul. I think the book got a little bit bogged down with... READ MORE
HelenS