In 1928, after a rather unsuccessful education at Marlborough College, sixteen-year-old Richard Kennedy was put firmly under the wing of Leonard Woolf as his new protege at the Woolfs' printing press. Responsible for making tea, packing boxes and a host of other menial tasks, Kennedy observed unnoticed the social milieu of the sophisticated Bloomsbury set as it revolved around the Hogarth Press. Some forty years later, and by then a professional illustrator, he put pen to paper, recalling his time with Virginia and Leonard Woolf in candid and often hilarious detail. He tells of the success that Virginia enjoyed ('There is much talk of Mrs W's new book Orlando and plenty of tension'), of their chaotic office with its collapsing shelves, rats and arguments over toilet paper, and of his own often hapless attempts to keep pace with the literary giants around him. Illustrated throughout with Kennedy's own sketches, this is a delightful work that offers a unique peep into the Bloomsbury set.
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"This little beauty of a book holds an intriguing story . . . a delight to read, to hold and to give." --"Irish Times"
About the Author
Richard Kennedy (1910-1989) is best remembered as a popular illustrator of children's books.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A slender memoir by the illustrator Richard Kennedy telling of his first job working as an office boy for Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the heyday of the Hogarth Press.
Kennedy was just sixteen when he took the job and his naive and bumbling ineptitude is the making of these anecdotes. He cannot seem to do a single job without putting his foot in it and his gaucheness nestling cheek by jowl with the worldly sophistication of the Bloomsbury set is just a delight.
Kennedy has illustrated the volume with his signature pen and ink sketches and this lifts the already remarkable work right out of the ordinary.
This is a book which demands to be reprinted.
Kennedy was just sixteen when he took the job and his naive and bumbling ineptitude is the making of these anecdotes. He cannot seem to do a single job without putting his foot in it and his gaucheness nestling cheek by jowl with the worldly sophistication of the Bloomsbury set is just a delight.
Kennedy has illustrated the volume with his signature pen and ink sketches and this lifts the already remarkable work right out of the ordinary.
This is a book which demands to be reprinted.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By booksetc
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
This is a delightful little book, and hugely amusing - what a shame it is out of print. Richard Kennedy went to work for Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press when he was a gauche 16-year-old. And this is how the Bloomsbury set appeared to an unimpressed adolescent. Here is Leonard Woolf, careful with the petty cash and questioning the purchase of toilet paper for the staff. Thrown in at the conversational deep end, Richard - who has never heard of DH Lawrence - confuses him with TE. He guffaws when Vanessa Bell falls on her backside and thinks the Woolfs' country residence smells of the cesspit. Of Orlando, he says: 'I think I'm going to like it much more than To the Lighthouse, which is a good thing because it's embarrassing to like someone and not admire their work.'
Very, very funny ... and Kennedy's line drawings bring it even more vividly to life. Beware the office boy with an observant eye!
Very, very funny ... and Kennedy's line drawings bring it even more vividly to life. Beware the office boy with an observant eye!
By MJ
Format:Paperback
If you work in publishing, are a budding writer, or are interested in the Bloomsbury Group or either of the Woolfs, you must read this little book. It's so funny and delightful, and completely punctures the myth of glamour that surrounds Bloomsbury (and, for some unknown reason, publishing).
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