Description

Book Synopsis

'I drew my first breath on the 28th of January 1935, which was quite a good time for a future writer to be born in England...’

The only child in a lower-middle-class London family, David Lodge inherited his artistic genes from his musician father and his Catholic faith from his Irish-Belgian mother. Four years old when World War II began, David grew to maturity through decades of great social and cultural change - giving him plenty to write about.

Candid, witty and insightful, Quite a Good Time to be Born illuminates a period of transition in British society, and charts the evolution of a writer whose works have become classics in his own lifetime.



Trade Review
What one takes away from this half-memoir is the self-portrait of an extraordinarily good, wrongly modest man; a distinguished scholar, and one of the finest of current novelists -- John Sutherland * Spectator *
As a piece of reportage from the third quarter of the English 20th century this is a sociologist’s paradise * Guardian *
An outstanding memoir... Lucid and witty * Irish Times *
A fascinating and moving read * Financial Times *
Quite a Good Time to be Born is a record of success, free of boasting or malice. Anyone with some knowledge of academia or the literary world will find it full of interest -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *

Quite A Good Time to be Born: A Memoir: 1935-1975

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    A Paperback / softback by David Lodge

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Vintage
      Published 28 January 2016
      ISBN-13 9781784700539
      978-1784700539
      ISBN-10 1784700533
      Also in:
      Biography Autobiography: writers Memoirs ELT & Literary Studies Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      'I drew my first breath on the 28th of January 1935, which was quite a good time for a future writer to be born in England...’

      The only child in a lower-middle-class London family, David Lodge inherited his artistic genes from his musician father and his Catholic faith from his Irish-Belgian mother. Four years old when World War II began, David grew to maturity through decades of great social and cultural change - giving him plenty to write about.

      Candid, witty and insightful, Quite a Good Time to be Born illuminates a period of transition in British society, and charts the evolution of a writer whose works have become classics in his own lifetime.



      Trade Review
      What one takes away from this half-memoir is the self-portrait of an extraordinarily good, wrongly modest man; a distinguished scholar, and one of the finest of current novelists -- John Sutherland * Spectator *
      As a piece of reportage from the third quarter of the English 20th century this is a sociologist’s paradise * Guardian *
      An outstanding memoir... Lucid and witty * Irish Times *
      A fascinating and moving read * Financial Times *
      Quite a Good Time to be Born is a record of success, free of boasting or malice. Anyone with some knowledge of academia or the literary world will find it full of interest -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *

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