Items related to A Distant Prospect

Berners, Lord A Distant Prospect ISBN 13: 9780297643432

A Distant Prospect - Hardcover

 
9780297643432: A Distant Prospect
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
'Autobiography of the very finest quality. Having enjoyed in the course of reading it the loudest and longest laughs I have enjoyed in the last two years I am quite incapable of making any critical observations. I found the book enchanting from cover to cover.' Compton Mackenzie, Daily Mail 'First Childhood and A Distant Prospect are quietly remarkable volumes of autobiography. Both books are alive with unforgotten terrors and unforgiven indignities.' Alan Hollinghurst, TLS, March 1998 ''Not only witty and amusing, but contains things to ponder over in plenty behind the mere youthful years. The portraits of his friends are complete portraits, sketched brilliantly in a few strokes.' Tatler A Distant Prospect is the second volume of Lord Berner's perfectly formed, hilarious, and beautifully written memoirs. Berners was a great English eccentric, a composer, novelist, painter and conspicuous aesthete whose friends included Gertrude Stein, Diaghilev and Sitwell. The character of Lord Merlin in Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love is based on Lord Berners, who would dip his pigeons into basins of magenta, green and ultramarine so that when released they resembled, Mitford wrote, 'a cloud of confetti in the sky'. These memoirs are classics of their kind.

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

Review:
There are a couple of words that could be used to describe this book. One is "darling"; another is "bijou" ("a jewel, a trinket"); a third might be "class-bound", because the world of this memoir is (a couple of Windsor street walkers aside) unashamedly upper class. But we can forgive him that: Berners writes with so insouciant an elegance and precision, and the whole is redolent of the brilliant eccentricity recently captured in Mark Armory's lovely biography of the man (Lord Berners: the Last Eccentric.

A Distant Prospect picks up from Berners' first slim volume of memoirs, First Childhood and takes us through schooldays at Eton in the early years of the 20th century. We get a good sense of the singularity of the young Berners: "Once, when a particularly fatuous friend of my mother's, Colonel Stokes, said to me, "Well young man, what is your aim in life?" I replied, "Not to have to answer silly questions." But I felt that this sort of thing really didn't do me any good and it upset my mother." Berners was close to his mother, who figures largely in this book. In conversation with a particularly earnest clergyman, Mr Prout, she reacts to his use of the phrase "the idle rich": "Oh but Mr Prout, all the rich people I know are always very busy. They always have a lot to do." "I don't count hunting or shooting," Mr Prout replied, "or going to parties." "Why not?" my mother asked and the subject was dropped.

But if some of the antics of the upper classes seem remote to millennial Britain, others don't; Berners talks (for instance) about the homosexuality of Eton in ways reminiscent of, as it might be, the discourse of Michael Portillo--"it was merely the ebullition of puberty...those who are sexually normal will soon abandon this kind of nonsense for the real thing." A fascinating glimpse into a certain mind-set. -- Adam Roberts

Book Description:
The memoirs of a quintessential eccentric, outrageously funny and beautifully written

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

  • PublisherW&N
  • Publication date1999
  • ISBN 10 0297643436
  • ISBN 13 9780297643432
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages192
  • Rating
Buy Used
Condition: Very Good
The book has been read, but is... Learn more about this copy

Shipping: £ 4.80
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Destination, rates & speeds

Add to Basket

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781885983329: DISTANT PROSPECT, A

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9781885983329
Publisher: TURTLE POINT PRESS, 1998
Softcover

  • 9780753810163: A Distant Prospect

    Phoenix, 2000
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Berners, Lord
Published by W&N (1999)
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 3
Seller:
WorldofBooks
(Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002469612

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 1.58
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 4.80
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Berners, Lord
Published by W&N (1999)
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
The Maryland Book Bank
(Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description hardcover. Condition: Very Good. New Ed. Used - Very Good. Seller Inventory # 2-Q-1-0800

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 4.57
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.33
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lord Berners
Published by W&N 26/08/1999 (1999)
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
AwesomeBooks
(Wallingford, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. . Seller Inventory # 7719-9780297643432

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 3.74
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 4.49
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Berners, Lord
Published by W&N (1999)
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
WeBuyBooks
(Rossendale, LANCS, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: VeryGood. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. Seller Inventory # wbs7925471135

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 1.11
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 8
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Berners, Lord
Published by WandN (1999)
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Reuseabook
(Gloucester, GLOS, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Ex-library book with stamps on the first page, it is also likely to have a small shelf number sticker on the spine. Seller Inventory # CHL9250353

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 1.95
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 7.37
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Berners, Lord
Published by W&N (1999)
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: Very Good. Book is in Used-VeryGood condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain very limited notes and highlighting. Seller Inventory # 0297643436-2-3

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 9.42
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lord Berners
Published by W&N 26/08/1999 (1999)
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Bahamut Media
(Reading, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: Very Good. Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780297643432

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 3.74
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 6.98
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Lord Berners
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Biblioteca di Babele
(Tarquinia, VT, Italy)

Book Description Condition: BUONO USATO. IIED. INGLESE Legatura editoriale in cartonato rigido ruvido, copertina in buono stato, con titolo in oro al dorso, protetta da sovraccoperta con bandelle, illustrata in entrambi i piatti. Ritratto fotografico dell' Autore alla bandella posteriore. Interno molto ben conservato, carte ossidate da tonalità ocra e perfettamente tenute, tagli integri e puliti. Numero pagine 176. Seller Inventory # KEE5422

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 7.06
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 35.99
From Italy to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Lord Berners. Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson
ISBN 10: 0297643436 ISBN 13: 9780297643432
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
SAVERY BOOKS
(Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. SECOND EDITION. Hardback 1999. Clean & tight. No inscriptions. Flat pages. JACKET SPINE IS A LITTLE FADED. Jacket is not torn. Front flap is priced: £12.99 net. Jacket is now under clear removable protective covers. Dispatched ROYAL MAIL FIRST CLASS with TRACKING next working day or sooner securely boxed in cardboard. ref G17. Seller Inventory # 042271

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 19.92
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 33
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds