Autobiography: writers Books

Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1939, as a two-year-old in London, I was given away by my parents to a Chelsea friend and taken on the Irish Mail to Dublin. Thus begins this extraordinary memoir by travel writer and novelist Joseph Hone, one of eight children farmed out by impecunious and inebriate parents, who was raised at Maidenhall in County Kilkenny by the historian and essayist Hubert Butler and his wife Peggy, sister of Tyrone Guthrie of Annaghmakerrig in County Monaghan. The story is told through a cache of letters discovered on Hubert Butler’s death between he and his friend ‘Old Joe’, Little Joe’s grandfather and biographer of Yeats and George Moore, upon whom fell the financial responsibility for his grandson’s upbringing. This account of Joseph Hone’s childhood and youth during the 1940s and 50s in rural Ireland, among the privileged and artistic elite of his generation living down-at-heel if comfortable lives in a newly emergent state, is an enthralling reminder of the happenstance and precariousness of all our lives. Like William Trevor, Joe was boarded out at Sandford Park in Dublin and then at St Columba’s, both of which he documents in loving and comic detail, gaining as much stimulation from his home environment as from the excesses and disappointments of these single-sex establishments. He writes with feeling and insight of the lives of those in his circle and beyond – his teachers and foster parents and friends – working as an assistant for John Ford during the making of The Quiet Man, and finding himself as the writer he was to become. This numinous work of autobiography and self-interrogation bears comparison with Nabokov’s Speak Memory or Frank O’Connor’s An Only Child. It will take its place as a classic of the genre while illuminating unknown corners of Ireland’s cultural landscape.Trade Review“A brilliant, often hilariously funny, and above all, beautifully written story.” Irish Arts Review “An invaluable account of an unusal upbringing and a wonderful portrait of two Irish men of letters…” 5 stars – The Dubliner“A brilliant, often hilariously funny, and above all, beautifully written story.” Irish Arts Review “An invaluable account of an unusal upbringing and a wonderful portrait of two Irish men of letters…” 5 stars – The Dubliner

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A thoughtful, funny memoir on the realities of immigration' Guardian'Ebullient and sharply humorous about the conflicts and confusions of growing up and adapting to a country (and family) in a constant state of political flux and, often, social fantasy' The TimesMr Hai arrived in London in 1964. But, while becoming British via a passport had been relatively easy, becoming English was something to be studied - and then passed on, first to his wife, newly arrived from Pakistan, and then to his children. No more speaking Urdu, no more long plaits, no shalwar kameezes, and - even though they were Muslim - no more religion. Mr Hai put his family firmly on the road to assimilation, and his first-born daughter Yasmin was his star pupil. However, being second-generation British Asian was not quite so simple... especially as their Muslim community was about to go through some very profound changes and challenges.Brilliantly told, with intelligence and humour and passion, this is a fascinating story about immigration and identity, about religion and roots, and about a daughter's understanding of her father.Trade Review[Yasmin Hai] is ebullient and sharply humorous about the conflicts and confusions of growing up and adapting to a country (and a family) in a constant state of political flux and, often, social fantasy. Her personality is as engaging as her insights are illuminating * The Times *A very personal story filled with family tales, social history and politics, and making an important contribution to the debate about life in modern multicultural Britain * Waterstones Books Quarterly *Had Mr Hai succeeded in turning his daughter into an Englishwoman? I'm not sure it really matters anymore, but his kindly influence obviously enabled his little Yasmin to write this unbelievably funny, passionate autobiography * Spectator *[Yasmin Hai] is ebullient and sharply humorous about the conflicts and confusions of growing up and adapting to a country (and a family) in a constant state of political flux and, often, social fantasy. Her personality is as engaging as her insights are illuminating. * The Times *Had Mr Hai succeeded in turning his daughter into an Englishwoman? I'm not sure it really matters any more, but his kindly influence obviously enabled his little Yasmin to write this unbelievably funny, passionate autobiography. * Spectator *A thoughtful, funny memoir on the realities of immigration * Guardian (Guide - for the Radio 4 Book of the Week) *A very personal story filled with family tales, social history and politics, and making an important contribution to the debate about life in modern multicultural Britain. * Waterstones Books Quarterly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFirst published in 1936, this is the story of Elizabeth von Arnim's extraordinary life - and her equally extraordinary dogs. From her Pomeranian idyll (celebrated in her famous first book, ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN), to less happy days in London following the death of her first husband; from the beautiful solitude of her Swiss mountain hideaway, to the First World War and a disastrous second marriage, the author takes us on a disarmingly witty and poignant journey of canine companionship.Trade ReviewAs much a portrait of a vanished world as the autobiography of a well-loved author told through touching takes of canine companions * Big Issue *A captivating (in no way barking) autobiography. Dogs take the leading role, but it is also about troublesome husbands, wonderfu houses, a surprising life * Observer *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEdith Sitwell (1887-1964) was, through four decades, the most prominent and celebrated woman poet in Britain. Among the notable admirers of her work were Siegfried Sassoon, WB Yeats and Gertrude Stein, Stephen Spender and Marianne Moore. Just after her death, Allen Tate described her in The New York Times as 'one of the great poets of the twentieth century'. Even as one allows for the ebb and flow of literary reputations, Edith Sitwell will have permanent claim on the attention of readers and literary scholars. She and her two brothers, Osbert and Sacheverell, were the focus of a movement in English Literature described as an 'alternative Bloomsbury'. This volume includes unpublished letters to many significant figures, including WB Yeats, Bertrand Russell and Benjamin Britten. It also contains letters that illuminate Sitwell's relations with other women writers, among them, Gertrude Stein and Rosamond Lehmann.'I am besotted with this dotty old bat. Britain's most celebrated and eccentric female poet, she dashed off reams of witty, newsy, mischievous letters in exquisitely beautiful prose. Every letter is a gem' - Val Hennessy (one of her top ten books for 1997), Daily MailTrade ReviewAmusing, painful, these letters are very entertaining * THE TIMES *Her letters are a vital expression of that personality - witty, prickly, affectionate, kind, snobbish yet vulnerable, imaginative and often over-the-top ... the letters make you laugh out loud * LITERARY REVIEW *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSelected letters of occult author Gareth Knight, written over a period of forty years and to over seventy different people. These include learned discourse with academics, exchanges of strange experiences with esoteric colleagues, and advice to seekers trying to find their path. The letters reveal extraordinary, entertaining and personal details of the life and work of a contemporary occultist. "One fault of many occult students is to read too much ...all too often the new student is so interested in reading the latest thing that he never gets round to actually doing any of it." "I suppose you can at least feel what it is like to be 'a lone voice crying in the wilderness' ...I think even John the Baptist, in time, would have packed up his traps, said 'Sod it' (or 'Sod them') and gone home, maybe to start a locust and wild honey farm." "Your remark that the devil works by compromise and subtlety is altogether too glib a simplification. He works equally well through uncompromising 'principles' very often. The thing that bothers me though is your preoccupation with the insinuations of the devil, which seems at times to verge on 'old maid's insanity'. I get the impression - I hope wrongly - that I stand a good chance of being cast in the role of the serpent offering the poisoned, or forbidden fruit."

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisMuch has been written on Simone de Beauvoir, one of France’s leading intellectual figures of the 20th century. The sheer volume of her autobiographical writings testifies to her indefatigable questioning of the nature of existence and her personal and public engagement in the world over the best part of a century. This study aims to re-evaluate her extensive autobiographical œuvre, exploring its place in relation to the French autobiographical canon, and in the light of recent theorisations of autobiography. It presents readings which engage critically with existentialism, feminist theory, and autobiography studies generally, in particular focusing on the question of ‘autothanatography’, a term developed by theorists such as Jacques Derrida and Louis Marin. A new reading of the autobiographies via the lens of thanatos is presented with questions of gender in mind, and the nature of autobiography as genre is also explored more fully with particular attention paid to narrative voice. Close readings of the autobiographical œuvre combine with contextual details, critical overviews and links to recent developments in critiques of Beauvoir’s fiction and philosophy. The study would be of particular interest to scholars in the following areas: 20th century French literature and culture; Autobiography studies; Literary theory; existentialism; Women’s studies.Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction AUTOBIOGRAPHY CHAPTER I Mémoires d’une jeune fille rangée CHAPTER II La Force de l’âge CHAPTER III La Force des choses CHAPTER IV Tout compte fait CHAPTER V Une mort très douce CHAPTER VI La Cérémonie des adieux Conclusion Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less