Last Post has a double life; it both sounds for the gallant fallen
and recalls what spurred freelance journalists, in all those
yesterdays before e-mail, to get their copy in the pillar-box by
deadline time. Frederic Raphael's compendium, written in the lively
equivalent of the French epistolary second person singular, is a
rare mixture of loud salutes, occasional raspberries and
affectionate farewells. Its intimacy delivers frankness that formal
biography, however plumped with proper sources, seldom achieves. To
John Schlesinger, '“Fuck 'em all dear,” you used to say. And
God knows, you did your best.'; Ludwig Wittgenstein saying 'What do
you know about philosophy, Russell, what have you ever known?';
Cyril Connolly to William Somerset Maugham who was complaining
about his lack of true lovers, '...then although the room was
chilly, no one cared to poke poor Willie'; 'You bloody fool,' the
first words said by a venerable professor to George Steiner. As the
parade goes by, Last Post becomes what classicists call a
'prosopography'. Raphael's own versatility shows up in the
varieties of tone and vocabulary in long letters of tribute to the
two Stanleys Kubrick and Donen, Ken Tynan, Leslie Bricusse, Tom
Maschler, Dorothy Nimmo the known and the less known but no less
valued; finally, above all, in farewell to his beloved daughter
Sarah.
General
| Imprint: |
Lives and Letters
|
| Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
| Release date: |
June 2023 |
| Authors: |
Frederic Raphael
|
| Dimensions: |
216 x 135 x 40mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Paperback
|
| Pages: |
522 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-1-80017-303-3 |
| Categories: |
Books
Promotions
|
| LSN: |
1-80017-303-2 |
| Barcode: |
9781800173033 |
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