Description
Book SynopsisRelying on the author's personal recollections as well as on J.M. Coetzee's autobiographical and fictional works, this book deals with Coetzee's formation as a writer of international prominence, whose life and writing career began in South Africa.
Trade ReviewPart-memoir, part-biography, part-criticism, Jonathan Crewe’s account of the provenance of J.M. Coetzee’s fiction is erudite and poignant. In the Middle of Nowhere is the story of a friendship, but one rooted in a shared background and situation. As young literary intellectuals at odds with colonial ‘English,’ both found wider horizons in the American academy, but without being able to put the past firmly behind them. The intimacy of Crewe’s account of the Nobel laureate’s intellectual biography makes it essential reading in Coetzee studies. -- David Attwell, English and Related Literature, The University of York
Jonathan Crewe helped launch his own distinguished career as a critic with a prescient 1974 article on Dusklands, hailing a new kind of South African novel. J. M. Coetzee's colleague and compatriot in Cape Town in the early 1970s, and his friend then and since, Crewe returns to Coetzee studies with this fascinating critical memoir of their relationship. -- Lars Engle, The University of Tulsa
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Arrival Chapter 2: Settling In Chapter 3: Flashbacks Chapter 4: Boyhood Chapter 5: Disgrace Chapter 6: Master Classes: White Writing
