C. S. Lewis: A Biography (Flamingo S.) - Softcover

Wilson, A. N.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006544282 ISBN 13: 9780006544289

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1991

Synopsis

C.S.Lewis was a prolific writer and a man capable of inspiring both devotion and hostility. This book charts the progress of Lewis from Ulster to Oxford where he was a fellow of Magdalen College for the greater part of his adult life. The author describes Lewis' unwilling conversion to Christianity, the Oxford circle of his friends known as the "Inklings" and the basis of his writing. He also explores Lewis' relationship with Janie Moore, which kept him in domestic thrall for 30 years, and later his marriage to a divorced woman in defiance of the Church.

About this title

Review:

‘The more biography he writes, the better he gets – his life of C. S. Lewis is his best yet. It’s a vivacious and compassionate book. Wilson’s range of interests – religious, literary, human-gossipy and Oxfordian – make him an ideal match for the subject.’ Andrew Motion, Observer

‘Passionate, perspicacious, funny and inevitably partisan.’ Selina Hastings, Telegraph

‘Wilson’s biography is admirable, probably the best imaginable ... Mr Wilson is a brilliant biographer.’ Anthony Burgess, Independent

‘It seems fitting that A. N. Wilson should now have written the definitive biography of Lewis, and it is a superb job.’ John Bayley, Guardian

From the Back Cover:

“The more biography he writes, the better he gets – this life of C.S. Lewis is his best yet. It’s a vivacious and compassionate book. Wilson’s range of interests – religious, literary, human-gossipy and Oxfordian – make him an ideal match for the subject.”
ANDREW MOTION, 'Observer'

“Passionate, perspicacious, funny and inevitably partisan”
SELINA HASTINGS, 'Telegraph'

“This biography is nothing short of intoxicating. It is wonderfully lucid on every level. Above all it is Lewis’s astonishing fluency which is so captivating. Whether he is describing the method of an Oxford tutorial or defending the humdrum suburban life, he makes you 'see' and tells a rattling good story.”
BRIAN MASTERS, 'Evening Standard'

“Lean and lively ... he cuts through all the pious cackle to the heart of the matter.”
ANTHONY CURTIS, 'Financial Times'

“Wilson brings alive Lewis the man, in all his beery, blustery complexity. This is a book which renders previous biographies largely obsolete.”
NEIL PHILIP, 'Times Educational Supplement'

“It seems fitting that A.N. Wilson should now have written the definitive biography of Lewis, and it is a superb job.”
JOHN BAYLEY, 'Guardian'

“Wilson’s biography is admirable, probably the best imaginable ... MR Wilson is a brilliant biographer.”
ANTHONY BURGESS, 'Independent'

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0006544282
• ISBN 13: 9780006544289
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352