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More About the Author
Product Description
James Delingpole, Literary Review
'I can confidently predict that Michael Bywater’s Lost Worlds is going to be an enormous popular success.'
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Val Hennessy, Critic’s Choice, Daily Mail
‘Wonderfully original, entertaining and occasionally tear-jerking miscellany about life, loss and the human condition'
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Pick this up in a Christmas-stacked bookshop and you might think you were browsing (yet) another of those Schott-like lists, albeit an aparently denser one.
But do not be deceived by the alphabetical arrangement or the deliciously eccentric index; Bywater's book is not just, or even, a lexicon of loss. It is in reality an autobiography, a celebration of the life of Great Britain in the second half of the C20, its certainties, its conventions, its style and aspirations and of a child growing into a man as some of those solidities proved themselves ephemeral. Darkly elegaic at times, luminous and lyrical at others, angry, affectionate, erudite, self-indulgent and, above all, terribly terribly funny.
But do not be deceived by the alphabetical arrangement or the deliciously eccentric index; Bywater's book is not just, or even, a lexicon of loss. It is in reality an autobiography, a celebration of the life of Great Britain in the second half of the C20, its certainties, its conventions, its style and aspirations and of a child growing into a man as some of those solidities proved themselves ephemeral. Darkly elegaic at times, luminous and lyrical at others, angry, affectionate, erudite, self-indulgent and, above all, terribly terribly funny.
(Perhaps garters and Virol will come in the second edition?)
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This books sums up the author so totally, with its cocktail of cynicism,nostalgia, hope, angst,resentment, dissatisfaction and almost sentimental yearnings for normality...security....homeliness. This book seems to be intensely personal yet accessible to everyone...we can all remember and indentify with things that he discusses...we get reminded of things from our youth that we had forgotten about and learn about new things that are a focal part of someone else's childhood.But the main thing about Lost Worlds..is that it is unbelievably funny, it had me actually having to lie down cause i got a stitch from laughing...some of the stories will be imprinted on yr brain forever...Its a wonderful, unusual and brilliant book and i thoroughly recommend it.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I came to this having greatly liked Michael Bywater's work in The Independent and I wasn’t disappointed: it’s a marvellous book that contains nostalgia but which is informed by a very sharp sense of humour. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read ‘Ancients, Wisdom of the,’ and each time it makes me laugh again. Wonderful!
Incidentally, theodorawayte is wrong that the Bakelite telephone with its little drawer is missing: it’s right there, in footnote 67, page49, under Bakelite.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Spare us!
Another lament for the passing of time by self-regarding fogey, like Michael Foley's Age of Absurdity and Marcus Berkmann's Shed, a genre appealing to women, who can then feel... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Simon G. Barrett
A Philosophical Masterpiece
Firstly there are a few prerequisites to be got over. You will need to be in your "middle years" and preferably slightly aghast to have got there. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ian Richardson
Just found it again and funny as ever
I was clearing a flat and found this book I had last read about 4 years ago. I clearly remember hearing Stephen Fry read parts on the Radio and had to have the book after... Read more
Published on 16 May 2010 by Sally Wilton
Lost Worlds
If you are over forty,this is an absolutely first class read. A book to make you smile and laugh out loud,a reminder of how things used to be, and in many cases a realisation of... Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2009 by Peter K. Mullins
Not what it says on the tin
Failed the first chapter test...irritating chattering classes book that no doubt enables amusing dinner party conversations...clearly I am too common to appreciate its wit... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2008 by John
fantastic!
as i myself am not a literary genius all i can surfice to say is that this book equates to a really big cake placed in front of you that tastes absolutely naughty as hell but has... Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2007 by Ms. C. J. brown
A rare treat!
I hadn't laughed out loud whilst reading a book for quite a while until I got my hands on this. It is funny, poignant, quietly erudite and wickedly witty. Highly recommended.
Published on 8 Feb 2007 by C. A. Gallagher
A treat to read
I'm so glad that good writing, intelligent humour and fascination with the obscure have not vanished into some lost world! Read more
Published on 15 May 2006 by Secret Spi
Interesting content but awful writing style
My brother recommended this book and I must express my bitter disappointment.
The idea and content is good but unfortunately the way the book is written it epitomises how people... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2006 by "tc_copenhagen"
Legend
Mr Bywater is a without a doubt an all round good egg. Insightful, amusing and occasionally a bit of a grumpy old sod. Buy this book you'll not regret it.
Published on 12 Jan 2005
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