Evelyn Waugh: A Literary Life

by David Wykes

Overview

Waugh's life and his literary life exist in fascinating, dynamic relationship. Virtually all of his fiction was autobiographical, yet he maintained that his novels were 'objects', unrelated to the life of their author. This study traces the shifting relationship of ascertainable fact and imaginative fiction throughout Waugh's career, focusing on the endless negotiation he conducted between life and art, and on why, from being author of the anarchic, hilarious Decline and Fall , he transformed himself into the author of the romantic, eschatological Brideshead Revisited .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333611388
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	07/19/1999
Series:	Literary Lives
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Wykes is Professor of English at Dartmouth College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Three Annotated Epigraphs Introduction: Fiction, Autobiography, History Second Son: 1903-24 Pain As Is Seldom Seen in Men: 1924-30 Something of The Crusader's Zeal: 1930-39 A Legitimate Contribution to The War Effort: 1939-51 Small Acts to Redeem the Times: 1951-66 Notes Index

Editorial Reviews

...acute, perceptive, stylishly written and passionately appreciative of Waugh at his best.
— NY Times Book Review

Richard Eder

Waugh (1903-66) insisted that his novels were unrelated to his own life, though in fact almost all of his fiction was autobiographical. Wykes (English Dartmouth College) traces the dynamic and complex relationship between the fiction and the life, and considers why he evolved from anarchic humor to romantic eschatology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

This biography of Evelyn Waugh stitches together episodes of his life with anecdotes from his fiction, creating a tapestry as rich and varied as Waugh's finest works. Allowing biographical fact to play off an author's fictions is a dangerous affair, as too often the biographer leaps heedlessly to faulty assumptions about their interconnections. Wykes (English/Dartmouth), however, weaves the two themes together seamlessly, allowing Waugh's heady life to comment on his fiction in a meaningful dialectic. From the deep satire of Black Mischief to the rich spiritualism of Brideshead Revisited, Wykes delineates the vagaries of Waugh's personal life—strained relations with his father and brother, a first marriage annulled, numerous adulterous liaisons—with a critical eye, concentrating on how these moments crystallized into the characters and incidents of his darkest satires. Wykes gracefully manages to avoid the sycophancy that undermines so many biographies, the adolescent hero worship that asks the reader to join in the flinging of rose petals at the icon of the beloved; indeed, he doesn't hesitate to show us Waugh at his least appealing: as a cultural snob, an indifferent father, and occasionally a mediocre writer. Though concentrating on the major works of Waugh's canon, Wykes also shares the many pieces of trade writing that Waugh undertook to pay his bills—the travel narratives and wine guides, the articles for magazines and the biographies of friends—which round out the portrayal of a man frantically writing away for passion and for profit. Not the definitive biography of Waugh nor the most in-depth interpretation of his writings, but an immensely readable andhighly entertaining introduction to a man who, at his best and his worst, lived a life as interesting as his fiction.

Kirkus Reviews

...this volume is the most accessible guide to a writer who still finds plenty of 'general' as well as academic readers. Choice

From the Publisher