Love, sex, death, boredom, ecstasy, existential angst, political upheaval - the history of literature offers a rich and varied exploration of the human condition across the centuries. In this absorbing companion to literature's rich past, arranged by days of the year, acclaimed critics and friends John Sutherland and Stephen Fender turn up the most inspiring, enlightening, surprising and curious artefacts literature has to offer. Why did 16 June 1904 matter so much to James Joyce? Which great literary love affair was brought to a tragic end on 11 February 1963? And why did Roy Campbell punch Stephen Spender on the nose on 14 April 1949? Love, Sex, Death and Words provides an unrivalled, sumptuous voyage through the highs and lows of literature's bejewelled past.
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`I can't help thinking that Love, Sex, Death and Words would make a much appreciated Christmas present for any avid reader ... I have been looking forward to reading this book for some time, having enjoyed John Sutherland's earlier books ... This time John Sutherland is joined by Stephen Fender in assembling this huge anthology of essays about writers and books, 365 in fact, one for every day of the year, although few readers will be unable to resist reading on through several articles every time they pick up the book.' --A Common Reader
`I've had tremendous fun reading [the entries] - arguing with some, substituting others, quoting them over lunch - and pleasure is at the heart of this project. It's irresistible, as compulsive as eating popcorn. Hawthorne and Melville meet for the first time, Petrarch catches first sight of Laura, Picasso, Joyce, Stravinsky and Diaghilev and Proust dine together at the Majestic, Anthony Burgess (like Scott and Whitman before him) gives a glowing review to his own book, Defoe invents the novel, but doesn't know what to call it, Bertolt Brecht testifies before HUAC, Jeffrey Archer "goes down".' --Guardian
Doesn't the Trades Descriptions Act cover book titles? How can Love, Sex, Death & Words be justified for a volume of literary dates, all based on the solitary act of an author sitting down quietly with a quill, pencil, typewriter or keyboard? In fact, not only the fourth noun but also the first three are mots justes for the entrancing events detailed here.' --Independent
`This book ... should bring delight to many, sell tons and keep as many ex-wives as any of us could wish for in scones and jam ... `It's a smart idea, well executed. Its prime virtue is the dense agglomeration of trivia around even well-known events. Yukio Mishima's suicide (25 November 1970) is an obvious enough date to include -- but how funny to record Private Eye's response, which was to publish a picture of Kingsley Amis under the headline `Famous British Novelist Commits Public Suicide by Drinking Himself to Death'.' --Spectator --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
`I've had tremendous fun reading [the entries] - arguing with some, substituting others, quoting them over lunch - and pleasure is at the heart of this project. It's irresistible, as compulsive as eating popcorn. Hawthorne and Melville meet for the first time, Petrarch catches first sight of Laura, Picasso, Joyce, Stravinsky and Diaghilev and Proust dine together at the Majestic, Anthony Burgess (like Scott and Whitman before him) gives a glowing review to his own book, Defoe invents the novel, but doesn't know what to call it, Bertolt Brecht testifies before HUAC, Jeffrey Archer "goes down".' --Guardian
Doesn't the Trades Descriptions Act cover book titles? How can Love, Sex, Death & Words be justified for a volume of literary dates, all based on the solitary act of an author sitting down quietly with a quill, pencil, typewriter or keyboard? In fact, not only the fourth noun but also the first three are mots justes for the entrancing events detailed here.' --Independent
`This book ... should bring delight to many, sell tons and keep as many ex-wives as any of us could wish for in scones and jam ... `It's a smart idea, well executed. Its prime virtue is the dense agglomeration of trivia around even well-known events. Yukio Mishima's suicide (25 November 1970) is an obvious enough date to include -- but how funny to record Private Eye's response, which was to publish a picture of Kingsley Amis under the headline `Famous British Novelist Commits Public Suicide by Drinking Himself to Death'.' --Spectator --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
John Sutherland is Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus at University College London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was Chair of the Man-Booker Prize panel in 2005. Stephen Fender was born in San Francisco, and educated at Stanford and the Universities of Wales and Manchester. At present he is an Honorary Professor of English at UCL.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By Eleanor
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
In this brilliant collection the reader is treated to an eclectic series of small essays on various events in literary history, one for each day of the year, spanning a range of periods, countries, and subjects.
The book opens on January the 1st with a piece on the unusual copyright history of Peter Pan, other days treat of poets, publishers, shipwrecks, book-burning, modernists, censorship, kings, martyrs, wizards, and much much more. A brief look at the contents page will reveal the great wealth and richness of this book.
Sutherland and Fender write very well, succinctly and clearly elucidating their chosen topic however large or small. I learnt some completely new things, for example Stephen Crane's shipwreck or the bombing of Paternoster Row. The authors, however, also helped me crystallize my thoughts when it came to subjects I was somewhat familiar with, such as deconstructionism or the French poet Villon. Finally the book is a great starting point for further explorations, and I found myself going through underlining interesting-sounding works from known and unknown authors mentioned in the essays.
The short nature of the pieces mean that one can be educated and entertained in the smallest of spare moments, although I often found myself thinking 'Just one more...'.
The book opens on January the 1st with a piece on the unusual copyright history of Peter Pan, other days treat of poets, publishers, shipwrecks, book-burning, modernists, censorship, kings, martyrs, wizards, and much much more. A brief look at the contents page will reveal the great wealth and richness of this book.
Sutherland and Fender write very well, succinctly and clearly elucidating their chosen topic however large or small. I learnt some completely new things, for example Stephen Crane's shipwreck or the bombing of Paternoster Row. The authors, however, also helped me crystallize my thoughts when it came to subjects I was somewhat familiar with, such as deconstructionism or the French poet Villon. Finally the book is a great starting point for further explorations, and I found myself going through underlining interesting-sounding works from known and unknown authors mentioned in the essays.
The short nature of the pieces mean that one can be educated and entertained in the smallest of spare moments, although I often found myself thinking 'Just one more...'.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Bill Fleming
Format:Hardcover
This book keeps the promise of its subtitle: "Surprising tales from a year in literature".
It will make a perfect Christmas present, or rather "yeres yifte" for the whole of the coming year, to give to someone you esteem highly who really cares about what they read.
Each day's substantial entry has an amusing, witty, self-contained mini-essay on a literary fact relating to that date. It is all verifiable, however unlikely.
I'm a lifelong bookworm, many of whose waking hours over half a century have been spent either reading or thinking about literature, but much of the content of this book was brand new to me, mostly Professor Fender's half dealing with things American: I am a bit eurocentric.
It will make a perfect Christmas present, or rather "yeres yifte" for the whole of the coming year, to give to someone you esteem highly who really cares about what they read.
Each day's substantial entry has an amusing, witty, self-contained mini-essay on a literary fact relating to that date. It is all verifiable, however unlikely.
I'm a lifelong bookworm, many of whose waking hours over half a century have been spent either reading or thinking about literature, but much of the content of this book was brand new to me, mostly Professor Fender's half dealing with things American: I am a bit eurocentric.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have been looking forward to reading Love, Sex, Death and Words for some time, having enjoyed John Sutherland's earlier books like How To Read a Novel and The Curiosities of Literature. This time John Sutherland is joined by Stephen Fender in assembling this huge anthology of essays about writers and books, 365 in fact, one for every day of the year, although few readers will be unable to resist reading on through several articles every time they pick up the book.
There is a comprehensive index at the back of the book, which runs from Peter Abelard to Emile Zola and its fascinating to flick through it and look up references to favourite writers. This is a nice book to have on your shelf - a big thick wedge of over 500 pages.
The book was granted a lengthy review in The Guardian by Rick Gekoski who said, "I've had tremendous fun reading them - arguing with some, substituting others, quoting them over lunch - and pleasure is at the heart of this project. Its irresistible, as compulsive as eating popcorn".
I can't help thinking that Love, Sex, Death and Words would make a much appreciated Christmas present for any avid reader.
There is a comprehensive index at the back of the book, which runs from Peter Abelard to Emile Zola and its fascinating to flick through it and look up references to favourite writers. This is a nice book to have on your shelf - a big thick wedge of over 500 pages.
The book was granted a lengthy review in The Guardian by Rick Gekoski who said, "I've had tremendous fun reading them - arguing with some, substituting others, quoting them over lunch - and pleasure is at the heart of this project. Its irresistible, as compulsive as eating popcorn".
I can't help thinking that Love, Sex, Death and Words would make a much appreciated Christmas present for any avid reader.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By AKC
Format:Kindle Edition
I get very excited when a book I'm interested in is offered as the Kindle Daily Deal. This books sounds fantastic so I very quickly bought it. Glancing through, I can tell that the content is, as expected, very good, exactly what I would want, but a book like this is not necessarily meant to be read in order. This is where the problem comes in. The index is at the end (as would be expected in a print book). Thank goodness I have the "touch" version of the kindle so I can fairly quickly get to the end, but I can't just "jump" to it. The biggest disappointment is that the index does not have "links" to take you to the page. So, for example, if I see by the index that I want to read the entry for May 17th, I have to either manually page back to it or do a search. This is cumbersome and I believe a book such as this, if sold for kindle, needs to use kindle features.
I'm giving the book 4 stars because I see that amazon includes kindle reviews with other reviews and it wouldn't be fair to detract from the authors, as it does appear to be an excellent book if in print form. It's too cumbersome for me to read it the way I normally would on the kindle. I suppose I can just start at the beginniing and read sequentially but that isn't how I would have to approach it in print form.
I'm giving the book 4 stars because I see that amazon includes kindle reviews with other reviews and it wouldn't be fair to detract from the authors, as it does appear to be an excellent book if in print form. It's too cumbersome for me to read it the way I normally would on the kindle. I suppose I can just start at the beginniing and read sequentially but that isn't how I would have to approach it in print form.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an anthology of short literary pieces, usually a page or two in length. There are 365 of them, one for each day of the year, and the date is the peg on which the entries hang. So, starting with 1 January, we are told the extraordinary circumstances of how, by Act of Parliament, the copyright of `Peter Pan' was assigned in perpetuity to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. To give you some idea of the very wide range of entries, those for the birthdays of my family are on: the death of Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil) in 19BC, before completing the Aeneid; how Dickens, Marx and Mrs. Gaskell all commented on the Victorian labour dispute of 1853 known as the Great Preston Lockout; and how in 1966 it was revealed that the CIA had been a major financial backer of Encounter magazine, funneling its money in secret through a charitable organization called the Fairfield Foundation. The entries are often (predictably) idiosyncratic, but unfailingly informative, invariably well written, and frequently amusing and witty. You can read the book in several ways: chronologically as printed; dip into it at dates that are special for you; or browse the comprehensive index of names and read the entries that result. It is a delightful book, and I am sure that, like me, you will find yourself compiling a list of items for further reading.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
great concept, but....
This is one of those books consisting of a short article on a literary anniversary for every day of the year; I have been reading each day's entry for about the last four months. Read more
Published 9 months ago by John Hopper
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great fun for holidays..and your Kindle !
This is the ideal book if you are on a long journey, as you can read a chapter at a time, and have no need to remember the previous plot! Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mw R. Moore
4.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful
This was a real surprise of a book. Despite its academic knowledge and frequently critical approach, this is light, entertaining and fascinating as well as thought provoking. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gruffalo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, but not always accurate
Have only just started dipping into this book, and, since I like collecting factual snippets, am enjoying it immensely. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Annie W
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect for kindle
After reading a previous review commenting that this book has not been optimised for kindle I must disagree. Read more
Published 13 months ago by titania 299
4.0 out of 5 stars
LOVE, SEX, DEATH AND WORDS
Very good kindle daily deal.
A compilation of historical facts pertaining to famous writers and their works. Read more
A compilation of historical facts pertaining to famous writers and their works. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Amanda
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