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Confessions A. N. Wilson

Confessions By A. N. Wilson

Confessions by A. N. Wilson


£6.30
New RRP £20.00
Condition - Very Good
<20 in stock

Confessions Summary

Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises by A. N. Wilson

Known for his journalism, biographies and novels, A. N. Wilson turns a merciless searchlight on his own early life, his experience of sexual abuse, his catastrophic mistakes in love (sacred and profane) and his life in Grub Street - as a prolific writer. Before he came to London, as one of the Best of Young British novelists, and Literary Editor of the Spectator, we meet another A. N. Wilson. We meet his father, the Managing Director of Wedgwood, the grotesque teachers at his first boarding school, and the dons of Oxford - one of whom, at the age of just 20, he married, Katherine Duncan-Jones, the renowned Shakespearean scholar. The book begins with his heart-torn present-day visits to Katherine, now for decades his ex-wife, who has slithered into the torments of dementia. At every turn of this reminiscence, Wilson is baffled by his earlier self - whether he is flirting with unsuitable lovers or with the idea of the priesthood. His chapter on the High Camp seminary which he attended in Oxford is among the funniest in the book. We follow his unsuccessful attempts to become an academic, his aspirations to be a Man of Letters, and his eventual encounters with the famous, including some memorable meetings with royalty. The princesses, dons, paedophiles and journos who cross the pages are as sharply drawn as figures in Wilson's early comic fiction. But there is also a tenderness here, in his evocation of those whom he has loved, and hurt, the most.

Confessions Reviews

When you combine the deepest learning and the highest readability with the most plumptious story-telling, the result is A. N. Wilson ... * Stephen Fry *
A. N. Wilson is the most enjoyably readable historian I know. * Antonia Fraser *
A. N. Wilson is the supreme man of letters. He has conquered every field: journalism, novels, biography, history - and now memoir. He is planet-brained and very funny - a vanishingly rare combination. * Harry Mount *
I am stunned, as I always am, by Wilson's humanity and brilliance and hard honesty. * Deirdre McCloskey *
Distinguished literary figure A. N. Wilson's exquisite memoir tells the story of the wife he fell for as a student then betrayed - and the lifetime of lust and longing that led to a deeply poignant ending. * Daily Mail *
A. N. Wilson has written many brilliant biographies and novels but never a memoir - until now. It was worth the wait. So exhilarating. And definitely not a failed promise. * Telegraph *
Wilson is a torrentially readable autobiographer, capable of howlingly funny paragraphs, desperately sad scenes, gay slapstick, literary analysis and gossipy name-dropping in the same chapter. * John Walsh, Sunday Times *

About A. N. Wilson

A. N. Wilson is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist. His novel, Winnie and Wolf, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His last book The Mystery of Charles Dickens was published in 2020 to great critical acclaim and is at present being dramatized by Andrew Davies for British television.

Additional information

GOR012595307
9781472994806
1472994809
Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises by A. N. Wilson
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
2022-09-01
320
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Confessions