Wire report
‘I had a really crippling break’: how author Michael Thomas lost 20 years to mania, depression and more
In 2006 the novel Man Gone Down made Thomas famous and won him a €100,000 prize. He expected to produce a follow-up within a year – but life had other plans It should be some kind of happy ending when, after years of poverty and graft, an aspiring writer publishes their debut novel and it is greeted with acclaim and awards – but that’s not how it happened for Michael Thomas. His 2006 novel Man Gone Down seemed to augur the arrival of a powerful new literary voice, the beginning of a brilliant career. He featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, he won the €100,000 Dublin literary award – one of the most generous prizes in the book world – and he was promoted to assistant professor at Hunter College, New York, where he taught creative writing. But a follow-up would not arrive until now, 20 years later. Thomas’s new memoir, The Broken King, goes some way to explaining what h
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In 2006 the novel Man Gone Down made Thomas famous and won him a €100,000 prize. He expected to produce a follow-up within a year – but life had other plans It should be some kind of happy ending when, after years of poverty and graft, an aspiring writer publishes their debut novel and it is greeted with acclaim and awards – but that’s not how it happened for Michael Thomas. His 2006 novel Man Gone Down seemed to augur the arrival of a powerful new literary voice, the beginning of a brilliant career. He featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, he won the €100,000 Dublin literary award – one of the most generous prizes in the book world – and he was promoted to assistant professor at Hunter College, New York, where he taught creative writing. But a follow-up would not arrive until now, 20 years later. Thomas’s new memoir, The Broken King, goes some way to explaining what h
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According to The Guardian’s linked report, ‘I had a really crippling break’: how author Michael Thomas lost 20 years to mania, depression and more, In 2006 the novel Man Gone Down made Thomas famous and won him a €100,000 prize. He expected to produce a follow-up within a year – but life had other plans It should be some kind of happy ending when, after years of poverty and graft, an aspiring writer publishes their debut novel and it is greeted with acclaim and awards – but that’s not how it happened for Michael Thomas. His 2006 novel Man Gone Down seemed to augur the arrival of a powerful new literary voice, the beginning of a brilliant career. He featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, he won the €100,000 Dublin literary award – one of the most generous prizes in the book world – and he was promoted to assistant professor at Hunter College, New York, where he taught creative writing. But a follow-up would not arrive until now, 20 years later. Thomas’s new memoir, The Broken King, goes some way to explaining what h
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The development sits in VINI’s Global coverage for readers following international affairs, institutions, conflict, diplomacy, economics, and cross-border consequences. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The linked report is dated 2026-07-30T09:00:10+00:00.
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Primary source: ‘I had a really crippling break’: how author Michael Thomas lost 20 years to mania, depression and more via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- ‘I had a really crippling break’: how author Michael Thomas lost 20 years to mania, depression and moreThe Guardian - 2026-07-30T09:00:10+00:00
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