Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. As New, xxix, 706 p., 32 p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.. . Includes bibliographical references and index..

Iris Murdoch - A Life

Biographies & Memoirs

Conradi, Peter J.

Arts & Literature

W.W.Norton

Drawing on hundreds of interviews, letters, and diaries, an authorized biography of the critically acclaimed philosopher and novelist traces her personal life and literary and philosophical career, from her student days at Oxford, through her marriage to John Bayley, to Murdoch's remarkable influence on literary England, from 1940 to the present day.

Iris Murdoch: A Life

History

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

"There would be no need to complain of literary biographies...if they were all as good as Conradi's."―John Updike, The New YorkerIris: A Life of Iris Murdoch is already regarded as the standard, authorized biography of one of the most important female novelists and thinkers of the twentieth century. Three years after her death, Iris Murdoch has begun to fascinate a whole new generation of readers, and a movie about her life was released in early 2002. In this critically acclaimed biography, Peter Conradi assesses the intellectual and cultural legacy of a remarkable woman "at the center of our culture" (A. S. Byatt). Published in hardcover as Iris Murdoch: A Life. "Conradi's infectious fascination with Murdoch and stirring insights into her work make this a superb cornerstone biography. (Booklist starred review) "A marvel of sympathy and intelligence."―Washington Post "Murdoch herself comes alive in all her contradictions."―Commonweal "A groundbreaking volume to which future biographers of Murdoch will be deeply indebted."―Choice 32 pages of b/w photographs

Iris: The Life of Iris Murdoch (Norton Paperback)

W.W.Norton&Company

Analyzes the novels of the British writer, looks at how they make use of genre conventions, and assess Fowles place in modern literature

John Fowles (Contemporary Writers)

Routledge

Includes chapters by Denis Hills, Frank Tuohy, Derwent May, Stephen Romer and others, with a foreword by Alastair Niven, former head of literature at the British Council, and an afterword by Emma Harris, former head of the department of English at the University of Warsaw.

Cold War, Common Pursuit: British Council lecturers in Poland, 1938-1998

Europe

Starhaven

Gentle, modest and handsome, a fine poet, proficient in nine languages, eccentric Englishman Frank Thompson made an unlikely soldier. The elder of two sons of a formidable family of writers (his brother would become the radical historian E. P. Thompson), lover of Iris Murdoch, he was an intellectual idealist, a rare combination of brilliant mind and enormous heart. Despite his mother's best efforts, and the Communist Party line (Iris had herself recruited him), in September 1939 Frank enlisted. Serving first with the Royal Artillery, then Phantom, finally moving to SOE to escape the 'long littleness of life', he documented his wartime experiences. He wrote prodigiously, letters, diaries and poetry, the best of which, the much anthologised 'An Epitaph for my Friends' - for many the landmark poem of the Second World War - gives a taste of what English poetry may have lost when in June 1944, aged twenty-three, Frank was captured, tortured and executed in Litakovo, Bulgaria; a sense of his ability to touch the reader, to speak for his generation, to bear witness to their lost youth. A dictionary he was carrying once stopped an enemy bullet and saved his life; a volume of the great Roman poet Catullus was found on him after his death: Frank fought a 'poet's war'. Frank's letters still read fresh and alive today, his journals retain a startling intimacy - and it's from these that Peter J. Conradi brings vividly to life a brilliantly attractive and courageous personality, a soldier-poet or scholar-soldier of principle and integrity: a very English hero from a very different era.

A Very English Hero

Leaders & Notable People

Bloomsbury Publishing

How are great turning points in history experienced by individuals? As Britain pulls away from Europe great British writers come together to give voice to their innermost feelings. These writers include novelists, writers of books for children, of comic books, humourists, historians, biographers, nature writers, film writers, travel writers, writers young and old and from an extraordinary range of backgrounds. Most are famous perhaps because they have won the Booker or other literary prizes, written bestsellers, changed the face of popular culture or sold millions of records. Others are not yet household names but write with depth of insight and feeling. There is some extraordinary writing in this book. Some of these pieces are expressions of love of particular places in Europe. Some are true stories, some nostalgic, some hopeful. Some are cries of pain. There are hilarious pieces. There are cries of pain and regret. Some pieces are quietly devastating. All are passionate. Conceived as a love letter to Europe, this book may also help reawaken love for Britain. It shows the unique richness and diversity of British cultures, a multitude of voices in harmony. Contributors include: Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Philip Ardagh, Jake Arnott, Patricia Atkinson, Paul Atterbury, Richard Beard, Mary Beard, Don Boyd, Melvyn Bragg, Gyles Brandreth, Kathleen Burke, James Buxton, Philip Carr, Brian Catling, Shami Chakrabarti, Chris Cleave, Mark Cocker, Peter Conradi , Heather Cooper, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Roger Crowley, David Crystal, William Dalrymple, Lindsey Davies, Margaret Drabble, Mark Ellen, Richard Evans, Michel Faber, Sebastian Faulks, Ranulph Fiennes, Robert Fox, James Fox, Neil Gaiman, Evelyn Glennie, James Hanning, Nick Hayes, Alan Hollinghurst, Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch, Will Hutton, Robert Irwin, Holly Johnson , Liane Jones, Ruth Jones, Sam Jordison, Kapka Kassabova, AL Kennedy, Hermione Lee, Prue Leith, Patrick Lenox, Roger Lewis, David Lindo, Penelope Lively, Beth Lync, Richard Mabey, Sue MacGregor, Ian Martin, Frank McDonough, Jonathan Meades, Andrew Miller, Deborah Moggach, Ben Moor, Alan Moore, Paul Morley, Jackie Morris, Charles Nicholl, Richard Overy, Chris Riddell, Adam Roberts, Tony Robinson, Lee Rourke, Sophie Sabbage, Marcus Sedgwick, Richard Shirreff, Paul Stanford, Isy Suttie, Sandi Toksvig, Colin Tudge, Ed Vulliamy, Anna Whitelock, Kate Williams, Michael Wood, Louisa Young

A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope – Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others

Catling, Brian

Ardagh, Philip

DALRYMPLE, WILLIAM

Callow, Simon

BEARD, Mary

Hutton, Will

Townshend, Pete

Johnson, Holly

Emin, Tracey

Rowling.J.K.

BRAGG, Melvyn

Chakrabarti, Shami

DRABBLE, Margaret

Davis,Lindsey

Coronet

Family Business

Seren

Based on the author’s visit in 1965, this unique volume is written as a love letter to the mid-Wales county of Radnorshire. Within its autobiographical frame, this account covers the history and religious life of the area as reflected through its local writers and its adjacent townships, from 1176 to the present day. Exploring this fascinating location in detail, this investigation depicts its rural landscape as remote, wild, and renowned for shaping the lives of its inhabitants. Selecting key moments in its historyfrom the Middle Ages to the 21st centurythis examination reviews the responses of writers as varied as Thomas Traherne, Bruce Chatwin, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The result is a unique portrait of the countywhat it is like to have lived there and to live there stillthat captures the essence of a hidden part of Wales and Britain. Within this intriguing narrative, the various landscapes of bordersphysical, emotional, and intellectualfrom the author’s own particular racial, religious, and spiritual identity are analyzed, forming a complementary exploration of the human condition.

At the Bright Hem of God: Radnorshire Pastoral

Americas

Going Buddhist: Panic and Emptiness, the Buddha and Me

It often takes a crisis to see what a life's shape has been, to show what really matters. For Peter Conradi, writer, academic, acclaimed biographer of Iris Murdoch, the moment came in 1982. This is his account of the new life-journey he embarked on back then. It is a self-help book for cynics, in which it becomes clear that "going Buddhist" is neither a quick fix, nor a one-shot deal. Conradi explains the point of a religion relevant to Westerners, perishing from the knowingness and nihilism of the age.

Going Buddhist: Panic And Emptiness, The Buddha And Me

Religion & Spirituality

Buddhism

Short Books

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