Works On Paper by Michael Holroyd
Michael Holroyd opens with a startling attack on biography, which is answered by two essays on the ethics and values of non-fiction writing. The book then examines the work of several contemporary biographers, the place of biography in fiction and of fiction in biography, and the revelations of some extravagant autobiographers, from Osbert Sitwell to Quentin Crisp - to which he adds some adventures of his own, in particular an important and unpublished piece THE MAKING OF GBS, a riveting story of deadly literary warfare. The book ends with a series of satires, celebrations, apologias and polemics which throw light not only on Michael Holroyd's progress as a biographer, but also his record as an embattled campaigner in the field of present-day literary politics.
His views expressed with humour and elan on figures ranging from Sitwell to Quentin Crisp are a feast for the mind* INDEPENDENT *
Holroyd is an engaging, stimulating commentator who never reduces his academic work to accessible fatuity. He is gently but firmly persuasive of the value of biography. * OBSERVER *
If anyone still doubts that biographers are "proper" writers, rather than mere transcribers of life's rich record, then they should read this book. * NEW STATESMAN *
He remains an eloquent advertisement for the power of biography to animate what would otherwise be forgotten. * SUNDAY TIMES *
Holroyd is an engaging, stimulating commentator who never reduces his academic work to accessible fatuity. He is gently but firmly persuasive of the value of biography. * OBSERVER *
If anyone still doubts that biographers are "proper" writers, rather than mere transcribers of life's rich record, then they should read this book. * NEW STATESMAN *
He remains an eloquent advertisement for the power of biography to animate what would otherwise be forgotten. * SUNDAY TIMES *
Michael Holroyd is the author of numerous biographies including Lytton Strachey, Augustus John, George Bernard Shaw.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780349113968 |
| ISBN 10 | 0349113963 |
| Title | Works On Paper |
| Author | Michael Holroyd |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Year published | 2003-11-06 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |