Kingsley Amis was not only the finest comic novelist of his
generation, but also a dominant figure in post-World War II British
writing as a novelist, poet, critic, and polemicist. Zachary
Leader's definitive, authorized biography conjures in vivid detail
the life of one of the most controversial figures of
twentieth-century literature, renowned for his blistering
intelligence, savage wit, and belligerent fierceness of opinion.
In The Life of Kingsley Amis, Leader, the acclaimed editor of The
Letters of Kingsley Amis, draws not only on published and
unpublished works and correspondence, but also on interviews with a
wide range of Amis's friends, relatives, fellow writers, students,
and colleagues, many of whom have never spoken publicly before. The
result is a compulsively readable account of Amis's childhood,
school days, and life as a student at Oxford, teacher, critic,
political and cultural commentator, professional author, husband,
father, and lover. Neither evading nor sensationalizing the more
salacious aspects of Amis's life, Leader explores the writer's
phobias, self-doubts, and ambitions; the controversies in which he
was embroiled; and the role that drink played in a life bedeviled
by erotic entanglements, domestic turbulence, and personal
disaster.
Here is the biography that its subject deserves. Like Amis himself,
it is incisive and unsentimental, deeply appreciative of aesthetic
achievement, and a great source of amusing anecdotes. Dazzling for
its thoroughness, psychological acuity, and elegant style, The Life
of Kingsley Amis is exemplary: literary biography at its very best.
General
Imprint: |
Northwestern University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
May 2011 |
First published: |
May 2011 |
Authors: |
Zachary Leader
|
Dimensions: |
234 x 157 x 54mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
1012 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8101-2759-3 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-8101-2759-8 |
Barcode: |
9780810127593 |
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