Things I Don't Want to Know: A Response to George Orwell's Why I Write - Hardcover

Deborah Levy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1907903631 ISBN 13: 9781907903632

Publisher: Notting Hill Editions, 2013

Synopsis

'Perhaps when Orwell described sheer egoism as a necessary quality for a writer, he was not thinking about the sheer egoism of a female writer. Even the most arrogant female writer has to work over time to build an ego that is robust enough to get her through January, never mind all the way to December.' Deborah Levy

About this title

Review:

'Levy's strength is her originality of thought and expression.' --Jeanette Winterson

From the Back Cover:

Things I Don't Want to Know is a unique response to George Orwell from one of our most vital contemporary writers. Taking Orwell's famous list of motives for writing as the jumping-off point for a sequence of thrilling reflections on the writing life, this is a perfect companion not just to Orwell's essay, but also to Levy's own, essential oeuvre.

'A powerful feminist response to Orwell's "Why I Write" New Statesman

'Inspired by Orwell, another unique writer tells her tale. Marvellously right' Independent

'Superb sharpness and originality of imagination. It is feminist and political while being an inspiring work of writing' Marina Warner

'Original, unmissable. like chancing upon an oasis. The writing is of such quality that you want to drink it slowly' Kate Kellaway, Guardian

'In her powerful rejoinder to Orwell, Deborah Levy responds to his proposed motives for writing -- 'sheer egoism', 'aesthetic enthusiasm', 'historical impulse' and 'political purpose' -- with illuminating moments of autobiography. A vivid, striking account of a writer's life, which feminises and personalises Orwell's blunt assertions' Spectator

'It will be quoted for many years to come' Irish Examiner

About this edition

• Publisher: Notting Hill Editions
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1907903631
• ISBN 13: 9781907903632
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 116