The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century - Hardcover

Hugh Aldersey-Williams

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847089003 ISBN 13: 9781847089007

Publisher: Granta, 2015

Synopsis

A profound and delightful jeu d'esprit of a book, mixing biography, etymology, cultural history and quixotic scientific experiments. Aldersey-Williams pulls the unfairly neglected yet enormously influential writer Thomas Browne out of the obscure pages of Pseudodoxia Epidemica and into the 21st century, to apply his generous curiosity and rational intelligence to the vagaries and contradictions of life today. Browne has had some impressive fans (Sebald, Woolf, Borges, Poe, Marias) but this book will revive him, bringing his extraordinary genius to a whole new audience.

About this title

Review

'A wonderfully erratic, promenading book, in which we see how different, yet how similar we still are today to that most serene, most enigmatic science pioneer and literary master, Sir Thomas Browne, whose prose style is one of the highest peaks in English literature, according to Borges and to my humble self' -- Javier Marias

'This is just the kind of celebration Thomas Browne needs and deserves: not a conventional biography but a meditation filled with intellectual curiosity, tolerance, humane observation and gentle wit. It shows Browne as a man caught in the currents of his times while musing on timeless questions - and, like Aldersey-Williams, determined to weigh up the evidence without dogmatism, and to enjoy the richness of the world' -- Philip Ball

'It is much more than an affectionate portrait or a work of local piety. This is a very personal book, essayistic, digressive and idiosyncratic' -- Daily Telegraph

'Charming... This affectionate study attempts to apply Browne's thoughts to today's world' -- Sunday Telegraph

'The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century is a triumph. With humour, humility and intelligent generosity, Aldersey-Williams brings Sir Thomas splendidly to life, urns and all' -- Financial Times

'The book is a delightful read because it shares the curiosity of its subject. Written with passion and affection... Its greatest virtue is that you come away from it liking both Browne and Aldersey-Williams. This is one of those books that makes you feel that you've made friends both with its subject and its author' -- Guardian

'Aldersey-Williams has written the sort of book the good doctor might himself applaud. Not a conventional biography, this is a genial, generous but tough-minded excursion through its subject's life and afterlife' -- Boyd Tonkin, Independent

'A playful erudition permeates this biography of Thomas Browne... Aldersey-Williams zips between our time and Browne's to reveal the man and his work' -- Nature

'Engaging and thoughtful... Like some of the most compelling biographers, Aldersey-Williams partly inhabits his subject' -- Literary Review

'A playful erudition permeates this biography of Thomas Browne... Aldersey-Williams zips between our time and Browne's to reveal the man and his work' -- Nature

Superb... Aldersey-Williams has produced not a standard biography but a fascinating genre-bending melange of life story, medicine, science and human culture. The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century is a deft blend of erudition and trivia, formality and chattiness, high and low culture. Aldersey-William's illuminating and entertaining book endears us to Browne. With luck this fine tribute will bring Browne the wider readership he richly deserves' --Sunday Herald

'I cannot conceive of a reader who will not find some nugget of delight in this, even if they do not go on to read Browne himself. Its sense of limitless curiosity is in keeping with its subject. Many of Browne's devotees have commented on his lightness of touch and it is a quality shared by this book' --Scotland on Sunday

'A playful erudition permeates this biography of Thomas Browne... Aldersey-Williams zips between our time and Browne's to reveal the man and his work' --Nature

About the Author

HUGH ALDERSEY-WILLIAMS is a writer and curator with interests ranging from science to architecture and design. His prolific career as a freelance journalist included a five-year stint as the design critic of the New Statesman. He lives in Norwich and has for many years been an unreasoning Thomas Browne obsessive.

About this edition

• Publisher: Granta
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1847089003
• ISBN 13: 9781847089007
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352