Description
Book SynopsisClive James was the author of more than forty books. As well as essays, he published collections of literary and television criticism, travel writing, verse and novels, plus five volumes of autobiography,
Unreliable Memoirs,
Falling Towards England,
May Week Was In June,
North Face of Soho and
The Blaze of Obscurity. As a television performer he appeared regularly for both the BBC and ITV, most notably as writer and presenter of the
Postcard series of travel documentaries. He published several poetry collections, including the
Sunday Times bestseller
Sentenced to Life, and a translation of Dante's
The Divine Comedy, which was also a
Sunday Times bestseller. In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature. He held honorary doctorates from Sydney University and the University of East Anglia. In 2012 he was appointed CBE and in 2013, an O
Trade ReviewHis contribution to the art and enjoyment of TV criticism over the past ten years has been immense. His work is deeply perceptive, often outrageously funny and always compulsively readable -- the judges of the British Press Awards, naming Clive James Critic of the Year for 1981
One of the few columnists who make you laugh aloud . . . if there were angels he would be on their side: and that would certainly include
Charlie’s Angels -- Melvyn Bragg * Sunday Times *
C.J. didn't get where he is today just by being funny. He is humane, liberal and compassionate . . . What he writes is always pertinent and always witty . . We own him a deep debt of gratitude -- Gavin Ewart * Listener *
Few critics have a more unerring ear for woolliness and doubletalk or a more scathing and entertaining way of dealing with it -- Lesley Garner * Good Housekeeping *
He is one of the most remarkable figures in British cultural life at the moment: a poet and gifted literary critic who is also genuinely liked by the mass audience -- Michael Mason * London Review of Books *
