- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Viking; New edition edition (29 Nov 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670910848
- ISBN-13: 978-0670910847
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 100,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
'Has a fair claim to be some of the funniest writing since the war... the Bonfiglioli revival will surely continue apace' Spectator
Product Description
The novels of Kyril Bonfiglioli have achieved something like cult status since they were first published in the seventies. Admired by writers as different as Stephen Fry and Julian Barnes, Susan Hill and Craig Brown, they portray an unsettling world where louche characters perform unspeakable deeds while maintaining a life of apparent ease and sophistication. But who was this writer who shared the same profession -art-dealing - as his main character, Charlie Mortdecai, and professed to share similar tastes and talents too? What lay behind the smokescreen that he chose to throw up? He was, he said, "abstemious in all things except drink, food, tobacco and talking", "a dedicated marrier of beautiful women" and "a fair shot with most weapons". Using the ABC formula beloved by Kyril Bonfiglioli himself, Margaret Bonfiglioli - his second wife - has woven a fascinating portrait of this most enigmatic of writers and provided an intriguing guide to the books he wrote. The truth turns out to be scarcely more credible than the self-descriptions. Of Italo-Slovene descent, the son of a emigre antiquarian bookseller specializing in natural history, Bonfiglioli saw service as a regular soldier in West Africa before arriving at Oxford as a widower in the 1950s with two young children. After graduating, he set himself up as an art dealer in the city, at exactly the moment in the sixties - brilliantly captured in the books - when the art world was becoming truly trendy. It was then that he discovered his Tintoretto...Margaret Bonfiglioli builds up a complex picture of a man who loved art and literature as much as he loved action, who fled from business to write books. As well as the ABC of his life and works, "The Mortdecai ABC" contains Bonfiglioli's pungent editorials for "Science Fantasy", the science-fiction magazine he edited, a number of short stories that he never collected into a book, and some illuminating correspondence with his wife and children, and with his publishers. The result is a witty and unusual book that is the perfect guide, and tribute, to the world of Kyril Bonfiglioli.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Fans of The Mortdecai Trilogy, The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery (notwithstanding Craig Brown's wilful sabotage - unforgivable) and All The Tea in China will buy this book. No-one else will buy it and, frankly, why should they? The answer to this question is that newcomers to Kyril Bonfiglioli should read his wife's collage of her late husband's life to leaven the tragic disappointment that his fans will have to bear once they learn of the plans that Kyril Bonfiglioli had for the Hon. Charlie (Bertie and Flashman would have real competition); it is almost too much to bear.
The ABC portion of Margaret Bonfiglioli's book is patchy but worth it for the quotations. The journalistic pieces are interesting. The short stories a little treasure trove. After all, it's there in the prose. The real merit of this book, though, is in the letters. If you are a fan of the novels and you don't know whether to shell out for this book, then do so, flip to the last section and learn more about one of your favourite authors from his correspondence. Family, publisher (very funny) and, as the coup de grace, Michael Powell (I think I'll refer to him as "Mike" in the future, too). There's a lovely passage in the correspondence with Michael Powell where Kyril Bonfiglioli asks whether the project that they are to work on together is to be "commercial" or "arty" and Powell responds to this question with as perfect an answer as could be imagined. But you know that Bonfiglioli has eked this out of Powell by playing the acolyte. Powell, you know, too, responds as a modest mentor should. The letters certainly look toward posterity but who cares. Anyway, I'm preaching to the converted. Buy the book and try to avoid imagining what could have been.
The ABC portion of Margaret Bonfiglioli's book is patchy but worth it for the quotations. The journalistic pieces are interesting. The short stories a little treasure trove. After all, it's there in the prose. The real merit of this book, though, is in the letters. If you are a fan of the novels and you don't know whether to shell out for this book, then do so, flip to the last section and learn more about one of your favourite authors from his correspondence. Family, publisher (very funny) and, as the coup de grace, Michael Powell (I think I'll refer to him as "Mike" in the future, too). There's a lovely passage in the correspondence with Michael Powell where Kyril Bonfiglioli asks whether the project that they are to work on together is to be "commercial" or "arty" and Powell responds to this question with as perfect an answer as could be imagined. But you know that Bonfiglioli has eked this out of Powell by playing the acolyte. Powell, you know, too, responds as a modest mentor should. The letters certainly look toward posterity but who cares. Anyway, I'm preaching to the converted. Buy the book and try to avoid imagining what could have been.
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