Father! Father! Burning Bright, the savage satire on a dying man's family reaction as he still asserts control over them from the hospital bed. The Clothes They Stood Up In, the painful story of what happens to an elderly couple when their flat is stripped completely bare. The Laying on of Hands, a memorial service for a masseur to the famous that goes horribly wrong. The Lady in the Van, the true story of the eccentric old lady and her van who are invited by a homeowner to live in his garden. The homeowner is Alan Bennett and she stays for fifteen years. It became a West End hit, starring Maggie Smith. Like everything Bennett does, these stories are playful, witty and painfully observant of ordinary people's foibles. They all have brilliant twists, are immensely entertaining and highly moral. And all are modern classics.
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Book Description
Here are Alan Bennett's four hugely admired, triumphantly reviewed and bestselling stories, brought together in one book for the first time.
About the Author
Alan Bennett's many stage and television plays and his prose collection, Writing Home, have made him one of Britain's best-loved authors. He has a huge international reputation for his plays and films which include: Habeus Corpus, Kafka's Dick, Private Function, The Madness of George III and many others - often multi-prize winning.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
SEATED OBSCURELY towards the back of the church and on a side aisle, Treacher was conscious nevertheless of being much looked at. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
SEATED OBSCURELY towards the back of the church and on a side aisle, Treacher was conscious nevertheless of being much looked at. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By J. Baybusky
Format:Paperback
Alan Bennett is one of the very best writers ever. I always love his stories especially with his caustic humor. I have a set of video tapes of him in Westminster Abbey and really hope they will put them out on DVD one of these days. Tapes don't last forever!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Paul Callick
Format:Paperback
Is there a literary form which really suits what Bennett's best at? It's the story-telling embedded in conversation he's wonderful at capturing, and which so runs through these stories, especially (for me), 'The Laying on of Hands' and 'The Clothes They Stood Up In'. But in fiction, I guess he gets diverted. A curious turn of phrase or tired cliche and he's diverted for a whole paragraph, just riffing or playing with it. Like a kid walking past a sweet shop, he just can't resist it. But story and character do suffer. And the endings...well, he doesn't like doing them, which is why the diary form suits him best, when he can stop and move on when he's tired by an idea. For example, the first story here has a wonderful opening, some sharp observations and very drole moments, and then a contrived and rather embarassing ending. But who cares! A page by Bennett is worth twenty by many writers.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Alan Bennett goes for broke, once again. If you like his work, you will also like this collection as well.
Format:Paperback
I love Alan Bennett's work. Everything he does has that beautifully worked quality where every word matters and every line is considered and it all balances so wonderfully. This collection of short stories is no exception. His skill at capturing turns of phrase, emotional nuances and stupendously good dialogue is second to none. All the stories are fabulous, but the two which worked the best for me were; The Lady in the Van, which should be read here, and also seen on stage to capture its full effect, and The Clothes They Stood Up In, which is just a work of wonder. It doesn't really matter what the stories are about. What matters is that Bennett captures life so wonderfully on every page.
By G. Mullin
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Wry and gentle humour, overlying a fairly bleak view of life. The prognosis for his male characters is particularly pessimistic - a touch of the auto-biographicals? Also, hard not to hear a voice of caricature as you read.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Dickens
Format:Paperback
Stars? 4,3,5 and 3 respectively so `4' maybe. `The Laying on of Hands' is a tongue in cheek account of how a clergyman and another clergyman are caught up in a memorial service for services rendered before embarrassed celebrities. `The Clothes They Stood Up In', well the Ransomes' are burgled and all is not what it seems as the event triggers a kind of enlightenment for Mrs Ransome. All too late or just in time? `Father Father Burning Bright', is a wonderfully observed account of events surrounding a dying man's family which are true to life as ever. `The Lady in the Van', an ordinary perhaps overrated piece about an eccentric lady on the road and in the garden - as true again as is typical of Bennett. This is not `Talking Heads', but 4 is fair.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
