Autobiography: writers Books

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Book SynopsisWith access to kurt Vonnegut and his letters, the author paints a portrait of a man who made friends easily but always felt lonely, sold millions of books but never felt appreciated, and described himself as a humanist but fought with humanity at large.

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Book SynopsisSally Cline award-winning biographer, short story writer and winner of the BBC short story contest, is the author of ten books, including ground-breaking biographies of Radclyffe Hall, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Advisory Fellow for the Royal Literary Fund and a judge and mentor for the Arts Council Escalator scheme. She has an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Anglia Ruskin University, where she is Writer in Residence and a mentor on the MA in Creative Writing.Carole Angier is the biographer of Jean Rhys: Life & Work (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and winner of a Writers' Guild Non-Fiction Award) and The Double Bond: A Life of Primo Levi. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has edited several books of refugee writing, and teaches life writing at Birkbeck College, UTrade ReviewFascinating, wide-ranging, hugely knowledgeable - an indispensable guide and a beguiling education * William Boyd *'For anyone who has ever read a biography or memoir, or thought of writing one - this book of advice from the best writers in the UK is an instant classic' * Elaine Showalter, July 2010 *'a useful and level-headed primer' * Literary Review (September 2010) *

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Book SynopsisKnown for his journalism, biographies and novels, A. N. Wilson turns a merciless searchlight on his own early life, his experience of sexual abuse, his catastrophic mistakes in love (sacred and profane) and his life in Grub Street as a prolific writer.Before he came to London, as one of the Best of Young British novelists, and Literary Editor of the Spectator, we meet another A. N. Wilson. We meet his father, the Managing Director of Wedgwood, the grotesque teachers at his first boarding school, and the dons of Oxford one of whom, at the age of just 20, he married, Katherine Duncan-Jones, the renowned Shakespearean scholar. The book begins with his heart-torn present-day visits to Katherine, now for decades his ex-wife, who has slithered into the torments of dementia.At every turn of this reminiscence, Wilson is baffled by his earlier self whether he is flirting with unsuitable lovers or with the idea of the priesthood. His chapter on the HiTrade ReviewWhen you combine the deepest learning and the highest readability with the most plumptious story-telling, the result is A. N. Wilson. -- Stephen FryA. N. Wilson is the most enjoyably readable writer I know. -- Antonia FraserA. N. Wilson is the supreme man of letters. He has conquered every field: journalism, novels, biography, history – and now memoir. He is planet-brained and very funny – a vanishingly rare combination. -- Harry MountI am stunned, as I always am, by Wilson's humanity and brilliance and hard honesty. -- Deirdre McCloskeyDistinguished literary figure A. N. Wilson's exquisite memoir tells the story of the wife he fell for as a student then betrayed - and the lifetime of lust and longing that led to a deeply poignant ending. * Daily Mail *A. N. Wilson has written many brilliant biographies and novels but never a memoir - until now. It was worth the wait. So exhilarating. And definitely not a failed promise. * Daily Telegraph *Wilson is a torrentially readable autobiographer, capable of howlingly funny paragraphs, desperately sad scenes, gay slapstick, literary analysis and gossipy name-dropping in the same chapter. -- John Walsh * Sunday Times *…an arresting, honest, memorable book, never naïve or sloppy­, tender and forgiving towards those who have hurt Wilson, contemptuous and merciless about his own cowardice, vanity and failings. * Literary Review *Descriptions of life as a theological student have the mischievous, observant wit of an accomplished humourist. * The Spectator *…in this fascinating, searingly honest memoir [Wilson] tells more of his own life story. -- Jacqueline Wilson, bestselling children's authorDeliciously delicate barbs are scattered throughout the pages. * The Tablet *A. N. Wilson is the greatest living man of letters…He is proficient equally as a biographer, novelist, historian, essayist, editor and literary journalist. His every utterance is well worth pondering… * The Oldie *A. N. Wilson is nothing short of a genius, a searing journalist, a prolific biographer, a historian and a novelist. There will be no finer book this year. -- Rory Knight Bruce * The Field *All these accounts are fascinating, rendered with both melancholy and self-deprecating humor. * A STARRED REVIEW from Booklist *Confessions reveals a dexterous storyteller… Mr. Wilson himself turned to writing, writing, writing—as if his earnest output might one day assuage “the wistful sense with which I began to write this book, that I have never been completely sure who A.N. Wilson was.” We aren’t sure, either, but it has been an interesting ride. * Wall Street Journal *Wilson’s yarn has much to recommend… A readable, often entertaining summation of a life of hard work and second thoughts. * Kirkus Reviews *...a poignant saga …laugh out loud, hilarious... a compelling read.. replete with acerbic humor. * City Book Review *Scholarly, prolific and compulsively readable … it is impossible to resist Wilson’s storytelling… From its very first pages, Confessions promises to be terrifically entertaining, and it doesn’t fail in the slightest. * The Washington Post *Wilson knows how to tell a good story … Wilson captures a world that is smaller than today but also full of possibilities too soon passed. This may not be a confession, but it is a lament, and rightly so. * The Washington Examiner *A. N. Wilson is one of the very best novelists and biographers of his generation. He is also the most intriguing of them all. * Church Times *In this uproariously funny at times, and searingly – almost masochistically – honest pages, it is clear that one promise [Wilson] has been unswervingly faithful to is his promise as a writer. -- Andrew Roberts * The Spectator *…a tight, funny yarn – and the year’s best memoir, filled with eye-popping scenes and wise asides. * Daily Telegraph *…Andrew Norman Wilson can write — fluidly, gracefully, and with immense literary flourish. * Washington Independent Review of Books *A must-read for devotees of Wilson's prolific literary output, Confessions is a rambling, poetry-infused remembrance of promises made, broken and reshaped along the way. * Shelf Awareness *Irresistible. * The Tablet's Books of the Year *…gripping confessional memoir, by turns hilarious and poignant… There’s profound affection in this beautifully written book. * Daily Mail *I’ve read Confessions twice with much enjoyment each time. * The Hudson Review *His memoir is, of course, highly readable; full of gossip and catty stories about the people he mixed with in the worlds of journalism, academia and publishing…A diverting read from an author who never minds giving the dirty details of people’s lives. * Fun with Books Blog *Highly entertaining from the first page of his lively memoir… Fans of Wilson’s writing are bound to enjoy this elegantly written, startlingly honest and wickedly funny book about a life lived to the full. * The Lady *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Ungentle A. N. 2. Remind Me 3. Sorrowful Lay 4. Living up to the Blue China 5. Best of Young British 6. Masks 7. Norman Wilson’s Son 8. Leaving Germany 9. The Works 10. Frail Travelling 11. Andrew Woods 12. Contrasts 13. Warfare Accomplished 14. Miscarriages 15. What is my Name? 16. Convent Thoughts 17. Newcastle Road 18. When I Get There, I’ll Be Glad 19. Put Your Cap On, I Should 20. Notes for Boys 21. Little Bryan 22. Acqua Non Fizzimento 23. Journalistic Debut 24. A Bit of a Ruin 25. Mme de Liencourt, Mr Lowry and Others 26. Galsworthy Scholar 27. Kibbutznik 28. Lost Causes 29. Angel Fluffs 30. “Are they twa sweethearts?” 31. St Trinian’s 32. Superficial Journey 33. St Andrew’s by the Northern Sea 34. Prosaic and Drivelling 35. Clare 36. The Green Stick Index

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Book SynopsisSvetlana Boym (1959-2015) was a literary critic, visual artist, writer of fiction, and Hugo Reisinger Professor of Slavic and Comparative Literature at Harvard University, USA. Her books include Death in Quotation Marks (1991), Common Places (1994), The Future of Nostalgia (2001), Another Freedom (2010) and The Off-Modern (Bloomsbury, 2017). Her artworks were exhibited in New York, Berlin, Ljubljana, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Kaunas, and Cambridge.Ron Roberts is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Honorary Lecturer in Psychology at Kingston University, London, UK.Trade ReviewPoetic and analytical by turns, Svetlana Boym’s charismatic energy lives in every page of these brilliant autobiographical writings. They chart her post Sputnik Leningrad childhood in one of the Soviet ideologically imposed communal apartments, with its multiple partitions, at once prohibiting privacy and striving for it, to her departure from Russia aged twenty. Ambivalent about Soviet communality and the American dream, the work is a profound meditation on the psychic shock of an ever unfinished emigrant life. She is doubly alien, estranged from Soviet Russia and a ‘foreign-insider’, resident and non-resident, in Boston. Nostalgia, here lyrically explored, is a leitmotif of her work. Broken bones, a shattered porcelain cup, become emblems in an émigré’s narrative of belonging, unbelonging, and longing. * Isobel Armstrong, Emeritus Professor of English, Birkbeck, University of London, UK, and author of Victorian Glassworks *Eloquent, ironic, and haunting, this suite of Svetlana Boym’s essays is a shifting kaleidoscope of vivid memories, from a Soviet childhood to her ongoing reinventions of herself in America. The Origins of Nostalgia is the culmination of Svetlana Boym’s creative intertwining of her life and her compelling life’s work. * David Damrosch, Harvard University, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Snippets of Experience Ron Roberts 1. Cosmos in the Girls’ Washroom 2. Children, We’ve Been Deceived! 3. The Secret Life of a Communal Apartment Neighbor 4. Tearing Away (with an Introduction by Natal’ya Strugach) 5. Sasha, Misha, Napoleon and Josephine (circa 1992) 6. Replace the Irreplaceable! A Tale of Immigrant Objects 7. My Significant Others: Zenita, Susana, Ilanka Index

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Book SynopsisBorn Elsie Dunn in 1893 Clarksville, Tennessee, Evelyn Scott lived a tumultuous life that took her to New York, Brazil, western Europe, and the Caribbean. She published twelve novels during her lifetime and was a notable literary figure in the 1920s and 1930s. Published in 1937 alongside her penultimate novel, Background in Tennessee is an autobiographical work devoted to Scott's Tennessee birthplace, her family's history, and her broad view of Southern history. Her wide-ranging exploration of the south interweaves Scott's personal history with discussions of colonial settlement of the region, local leadership of Clarksville and the larger Nashville area, and race relations. In this new edition, Bill Hardwig provides an analytical introduction that guides the reader through Scott's intricate and winding exploration of early twentieth-century Tennessee and her own past. He notes at once Scott's ambivalence toward her native South and yet the nostalgia with which she recounts personal memories. Complicated yet critical to a full understanding of Evelyn Scott and her literary legacy, this edition of Background in Tennessee makes available an important voice in Tennessee's literary history for a new generation.

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Book SynopsisWho would you be if you lost everything? Hollye Dexter and her husband Troy woke one night to find their house ablaze. To escape the fire, they had to jump from their second-story window with their toddler son—and then watch their house and home-based businesses burn to the ground. Over the next two years, the family went bankrupt, lost their cars and another home, and got dropped by their best friends. As the outer layers of her life were stripped away, Dexter began to unravel emotionally; but then she found herself on the brink of losing her marriage, and she realized that if she was going to save her family, she would have to pull herself back together somehow. As she fought to reassemble the pieces of the life she’d had, Dexter discovered that a shattered heart has the ability to regenerate in a mighty way; that even in the midst of disaster, you can find your place; and that when everything you identify with is gone, you are free to discover who you really are. Poignant and inspiring, Fire Season is a story for anyone who has ever lost hope—and found it again.Trade Review“Hollye Dexter’s book made me cry and laugh—sometimes all within one paragraph. She tells her story with power and punch, and a truth that is unsettling and astonishing and ultimately uplifting. There isn't a soul who can't relate to her memoir. It is filled with revelations, humanity, poignancy, balls-out courage, and humor. She is a role model extraordinaire.” —Amy Ferris, screenwriter (Mr. Wonderful, Funny Valentines), playwright, and author of Marrying George Clooney “In Fire Season, Hollye Dexter gives me no choice but to experience fully and passionately the horrors of a house on fire, and to remember that how we face tragedy often defines who we are. As I read about a childhood fraught with loneliness and pain, and how she fought with valor to attain the love and trust she deserved, I was reminded of the phoenix. Dexter did what so many of us can only imagine: literally rising from the ashes and beginning anew. This memoir is a reminder that the joys of life are based not on what we possess, but what we appreciate." —Victoria Zackheim, author of The Bone Weaver and Exit Laughing “Fire Season will take your breath away and singe your fingertips from turning the pages so quickly. Like Dexter, you’ll fall madly in love with her husband, Troy, who could “rock the world off its axis” and right it again. Musician that she is, Dexter's prose sings in this beautiful and complicated love story, a story that inspires both tenderness and courage, and a deep belief that we can all, like the phoenix and the author, rise from the ashes." —Amy Friedman, author of Desperado’s Wife: A Memoir

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Book SynopsisAn audacious, unabashedly transgressive memoir about two acts of escape by the author: breaking from his family to seek a freer life in Paris and then, later, deserting the French military during the Algerian War.Pierre Guyotat was one of the most radical and uncompromising writers of the twentieth century, a literary successor to the Marquis de Sade, Georges Bataille, and Jean Genet, and whose visceral fictions and extreme linguistic experimentation have earned him cult status in France and abroad. Idiocy is his searing memoir of coming of age between 1958 and 1962, when he discovered his burgeoning sexuality as well as his aptitude for rebellion—first against his father, whom he escaped to become a writer in Paris, then against the French military authorities as a conscript in the Algerian War.With unflinching honesty, Guyotat recounts the atrocities he witnessed firsthand during the war, as well as his own harrowing experience of being arrested for ostensibly inciting desertion and imprisoned in a hole in the ground for three months. Guyotat wields his prose like a scalpel, merciless in his excavation of the sensations and textures of human brutality—yet also generous and moving in his depictions of comradery and friendship.Winner of the 2018 Prix Médicis, this bracing, hallucinatory narrative is both an incisive condemnation of violence and colonialism, and an invaluable key to the oeuvre of a writer hailed by Edmund White as “one of the few geniuses of our day.”

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Book SynopsisTotal Loss Farm in Guilford, Vermont, was and is a wordy place. Its hilly acres and flimsy buildings provided a refuge from a riven country, a place to grow paragraphs and stanzas, among the tilled rows of the market garden. Peter Gould's first novel Burnt Toast was a youthful exploration of this mythic turf. Peter left the farm to pursue love and work. In Horse-Drawn Yogurt, Peter returns to offer his take on how we lived in times that seem exotic, yet oddly familiar, in this second edition, with three new stories and an introduction by Vermont author Bill Schubart. Gould is eloquent, whimsical, critical, musical, magical, and tender. The new stories in this second edtion are gems with additional line drawings by the author.

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