Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead - Hardcover

9780007243761: Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead
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A terrifically engaging and original biography about one of England’s greatest novelists, and the glamorous, eccentric, debauched and ultimately tragic family that provided him with the most significant friendships of his life and inspired his masterpiece, “Brideshead Revisited”.

Evelyn Waugh was already famous when “Brideshead Revisited” was published in 1945. Written at the height of the war, the novel was, he admitted, of no ‘immediate propaganda value’. Instead, it was the story of a household, a family and a journey of religious faith – an elegy for a vanishing world and a testimony to a family he had fallen in love with a decade earlier.

The Lygons of Madresfield were every bit as glamorous, eccentric and compelling as their counterparts, the Marchmains, in “Brideshead Revisited”. William Lygon, Earl Beauchamp, was a warm-hearted, generous and unconventional father whose seven children adored him. When he was forced to flee the country by his scheming brother-in-law, his traumatised children stood firmly by him, defying not only the mores of the day, but also their deeply religious mother.

In this engrossing biography, bestselling author Paula Byrne takes an innovative approach to her subject, setting out to capture Waugh through the friendships and loves that mattered most to him. She uncovers a man who, far from the snobbish misanthropist of popular caricature, was as loving and complex as the family that inspired him. This brilliantly original biography unlocks for the first time the extent to which Waugh’s great novel encoded and transformed his own experiences. In so doing, it illuminates the loves and obsessions that shaped his life, and brings us inevitably to a secret that dared not speak its name.

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Review:

'Byrne's gift as a writer is her ability to combine scholarship with turbo-driven narrative power. "Mad World" is vibrant, absorbing, stranger than fiction' Sunday Times

'Paula Byrne has written a highly accomplished book about the family that came to inspire the Flytes of Brideshead ... a marvellous book, warm, witty, and enormously readable' Daily Telegraph

'Paula Byrne is the latest to explore the people and the story that inspired the book, and she does so with acuity and panache ... a lively introduction to Waugh and to Brideshead' Observer

‘"Mad World" is full of fascinating anecdotes ... Paula Byrne has produced a strong and romantic book that is at once a touching story of deep friendships, an astute piece of literary criticism and an important contribution to the canon of Waugh biography" Alexander Waugh, Literary Review

'[A] gripping account of Evelyn Waugh's life' Philip Hoare

‘vibrant, absorbing and stranger than fiction’
'Byrne's gift as a writer is her ability to combine scholarship with turbo-driven narrative power. "Mad World" is vibrant, absorbing, stranger than fiction' Sunday Times

'Paula Byrne has written a highly accomplished book about the family that came to inspire the Flytes of Brideshead ... a marvellous book, warm, witty, and enormously readable' Daily Telegraph

'Paula Byrne is the latest to explore the people and the story that inspired the book, and she does so with acuity and panache ... a lively introduction to Waugh and to Brideshead' Observer

‘"Mad World" is full of fascinating anecdotes ... Paula Byrne has produced a strong and romantic book that is at once a touching story of deep friendships, an astute piece of literary criticism and an important contribution to the canon of Waugh biography" Alexander Waugh, Literary Review

'[A] gripping account of Evelyn Waugh's life' Philip Hoare

‘vibrant, absorbing and stranger than fiction’
The Sunday Times

From the Back Cover:

Evelyn Waugh was already famous when Brideshead Revisited was published in 1945. The chronicle of a household, a family, and a journey of religious faith--an elegy for a vanishing world--Waugh's masterwork was a tribute and testimony to a family he had fallen in love with a decade earlier. The Lygons of Madresfield were every bit as glamorous, eccentric, and fascinating as their fictional Brideshead counterparts, their story just as compelling, filled with secrets and betrayals, scandals and unwavering love.

Mad World is Paula Byrne's innovative and engrossing biography of Evelyn Waugh, recalling the loves and obsessions that shaped his world and his writing, capturing Waugh through the friendships that mattered most to him, and exploring how he encoded the defining experiences of his adult life in his greatest literary work.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherHarperPress
  • Publication date2009
  • ISBN 10 0007243766
  • ISBN 13 9780007243761
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages384
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780007243778: Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead

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ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780007243778
Publisher: HarperPress, 2010
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  • 9780060881306: Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead

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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. London. HarperPress/Harper Collins Publishers. 2009. First Edition/First Printing (1 printed under first published 2009 to copyright page). Hard Cover. Medium 8vo. 6.5 x 9.3 . ([16.5cm x 23.5cm] approx. 355 pp. Dark violet boards with pale blue metallic cursive titles to the spine. Book is new with no wear. Dust jacket unclipped at £25 shows Evelyn Waugh on the front wrap riding a motorcycle. Despite being new, the dust jacket has sustained a tiny amount of rubbing at the head of the spine which is barely visible. No other wear. A terrifically engaging and original biography about one of England s greatest novelists, and the glamorous, eccentric, debauched and ultimately tragic family that provided him with the most significant friendships of his life and inspired his masterpiece, Brideshead Revisited . Paula Byrne takes an innovative approach to her subject, setting out to capture Waugh through the friendships and loves that mattered most to him. She uncovers a man who, far from the snobbish misanthropist of popular caricature, was as loving and complex as the family that inspired him. This brilliantly original biography unlocks for the first time the extent to which Waugh s great novel encoded and transformed his own experiences. In so doing, it illuminates the loves and obsessions that shaped his life. The dust jacket will be protected with a new inert archival quality sleeve which is removable. Please contact us if you would like any more information or additional images. Postage price quoted outside the UK is for a book up to 1kg using UPS. For books sent within the UK, there will be no extra charge for books up to 2kg which are sent by Royal Mail. Postage quoted in the UK is the actual cost (£3.45). All books are sent in protective packing and custom book box. If your book is intended as a gift, please let us know and we will gift wrap it free of charge with a card and any message. Seller Inventory # 16MAY2023021

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