The Opium-Eater: A Life of Thomas De Quincey

Biographies & Memoirs

Lindop, Grevel

Arts & Literature

Oxford Univ. Pr.

This is the first full biography of Charles Williams (1886-1945), an extraordinary and controversial figure who was a central member of the Inklingsthe group of Oxford writers that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Charles Williamsnovelist, poet, theologian, magician and guruwas the strangest, most multi-talented, and most controversial member of the group. He was a pioneering fantasy writer, who still has a cult following. C.S. Lewis thought his poems on King Arthur and the Holy Grail were among the best poetry of the twentieth century for 'the soaring and gorgeous novelty of their technique, and their profound wisdom'. But Williams was full of contradictions. An influential theologian, Williams was also deeply involved in the occult, experimenting extensively with magic, practising erotically-tinged rituals, and acquiring a following of devoted disciples. Membership of the Inklings, whom he joined at the outbreak of the Second World War, was only the final phase in a remarkable career. From a poor background in working-class London, Charles Williams rose to become an influential publisher, a successful dramatist, and an innovative literary critic. His friends and admirers included T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and the young Philip Larkin. A charismatic personality, he held left-wing political views, and believed that the Christian churches had dangerously undervalued sexuality. To redress the balance, he developed a 'Romantic Theology', aiming at an approach to God through sexual love. He became the most admired lecturer in wartime Oxford, influencing a generation of young writers before dying suddenly at the height of his powers. This biography draws on a wealth of documents, letters and private papers, many never before opened to researchers, and on more than twenty interviews with people who knew Williams. It vividly recreates the bizarre and dramatic life of this strange, uneasy genius, of whom Eliot wrote, 'For him there was no frontier between the material and the spiritual world.'

Charles Williams: The Third Inkling

Oxford University Press

This is the first full biography of Charles Williams (1886-1945), an extraordinary and controversial figure who was a central member of the Inklingsthe group of Oxford writers that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Charles Williamsnovelist, poet, theologian, magician and guruwas the strangest, most multi-talented, and most controversial member of the group. He was a pioneering fantasy writer, who still has a cult following. C.S. Lewis thought his poems on King Arthur and the Holy Grail were among the best poetry of the twentieth century for 'the soaring and gorgeous novelty of their technique, and their profound wisdom'. But Williams was full of contradictions. An influential theologian, Williams was also deeply involved in the occult, experimenting extensively with magic, practising erotically-tinged rituals, and acquiring a following of devoted disciples. Membership of the Inklings, whom he joined at the outbreak of the Second World War, was only the final phase in a remarkable career. From a poor background in working-class London, Charles Williams rose to become an influential publisher, a successful dramatist, and an innovative literary critic. His friends and admirers included T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and the young Philip Larkin. A charismatic personality, he held left-wing political views, and believed that the Christian churches had dangerously undervalued sexuality. To redress the balance, he developed a 'Romantic Theology', aiming at an approach to God through sexual love. He became the most admired lecturer in wartime Oxford, influencing a generation of young writers before dying suddenly at the height of his powers. This biography draws on a wealth of documents, letters and private papers, many never before opened to researchers, and on more than twenty interviews with people who knew Williams. It vividly recreates the bizarre and dramatic life of this strange, uneasy genius, of whom Eliot wrote, 'For him there was no frontier between the material and the spiritual world.'

Travels on the Dance Floor

When poet and biographer Grevel Lindop took up salsa dancing in rainy Manchester, his qualifications were size 12 feet and excruciating adolescent memories of ballroom dancing lessons. But salsa has a way of taking over your life. Intense, intimate, and addictivea lot like sexthe adrenalin-pumping Afro-Latin-American dance style soon turned into an obsession. In Travels on the Dance Floor the author embarks on a mission to discover the roots of salsa, master the best moves, and locate dance heaven. Lindop’s odyssey takes him from Manchester to the streets, bars, and dancehalls of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico; then to Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, and Miamiland of Cuban exilesand through encounters with musicians and dance teachers, hookers and hustlers, voodoo priests and thieves along the way. His journey also gives rise to basic confrontations with himselfand to the ultimate question: can a 6'4" white English poet really dance? And what happens when he does? Reunited with his wife and fellow salsa-addict he brings his travels and new-found dance techniques to a suitable climax as he heads for the annual salsa convention in Blackpool. With wry humor and the poet’s eye for color, detail, and atmosphere, Grevel Lindop’s fast-moving and stylish narrativeas compulsive as the dance he celebratesrecreates the lush cultural mix in which salsa thrives, and the toughness, warmth, and creativity of the people who live it.

Travel

Travel Writing

Andre Deutsch

When poet and biographer Grevel Lindop takes up salsa dancing in rainy Manchester, all he has are size 12 feet and excruciating adolescent memories of ballroom dancing lessons. But salsa has a way of getting into your blood. Intense and intimate, sexy and addictive, the adrenalin-pumping Afro-Latin-American dance style soon becomes an obsession. Inspired to learn more, Lindop decides on a solo adventure to find the geographical and cultural roots of salsa. From the streets, bars, and dance halls of Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia to those of Panama, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Miami—land of Cuban exiles—he stumbles across a colorful cast of characters and a raft of new tricks. His quest also gives rise to basic confrontations with himself: can a 6'4" white, English poet really dance? And what happens when he does? Travels on the Dance Floor is Lindop's vibrant and evocative account of his odyssey, written with wry humor and a poet's eye for color, detail, and atmosphere. Funny, passionate, and inspiring by turns, it is a book that will be loved by dance addicts and armchair travelers alike.

Travels on the Dance Floor: One Man's Journey Into the Heart of Salsa

From the Globe and Mail reviewer - "The life story of Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is a cautionary tale about the twin dangers of becoming a drug addict and writing a bestselling book. A Manchester lad of modest means, De Quincey - like Daniel Defoe, he added the "De" to class up the name - had a prodigious talent for Latin and the Germanic languages. He entered university at 15 but departed without a degree, having "convinced himself that he was not likely to gain much from a place like Oxford in any case. Far better to live freely in London, enjoy the many riches of the city and get an education that way." The quotation is from a new biography by Robert Morrison of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., a specialist in De Quincey and certain other 19th-century Romantics. It is a book that, in the best way, calls to mind an anecdote about De Quincey's friend and fellow essayist Charles Lamb. Each autumn Lamb would scour the second-hand book stalls for an inexpensive old folio volume that he and his mad sister Mary could pass the winter reading aloud to each other. The English Opium Eater: A Biography of Thomas De Quincey is certainly long (though not too long) and so rich in research that the readers can profitably ingest it at a relaxing rate......"

The opium-eater : a life of Thomas De Quincey

J.M.Dent.

LITERARY GU LAKE DISTRICT

Europe

RANDOM HOUSE UK

The definitive biography of the extraordinary, brilliant and complex author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Thomas de Quincy.

The opium-eater, a life of Thomas De Quincey

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Taplinger Pub. Co

Thomas Chatterton, Selected Poems (Fyfield Books)

Literature & Fiction

Chatterton, Thomas

Poetry

Carcanet Press

Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is considered one of the most important English prose writers of the early-19th century. This is the first part of a 21-volume set presenting De Quincey's work, also including previously unpublished material.

The Works of Thomas De Quincey, Part I Vol 1

Symonds, Barry

Children's Books

Routledge

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Books by Lindop, Grevel