Review
"Javier Marias is such an elegant, witty and persuasive writer that it is tempting simply to quote him at length" The Scotsman "Brief, playful, charming and insightful." Metro "...sprightly and entertaining...these essays are often as evocative of their subjects and as full of illuminating little nuggets of information as a well-written obituary." TLS"
Product Description
This is a playful glimpse into the personalities of twenty-five of the most significant writers of the last one hundred and fifty years. Inspired to revisit the lives of some of the world's most eminent writers of all time, looking at them from the angle of some peculiar detail of their lives, Javier Marias provides a lively and illuminating insight into personalities we thought we knew everything about. Told with affection and humour, these brief 'written lives' throw a refreshing, and very human, light on authors too-often enshrined, or entombed, within the halo of artistic sainthood.
About the Author
Born in Madrid in 1951, JAVIER MARIAS is the author of nine novels, two collections of short stories and seven collections of essays. Several of his books have been translated into English, including All Souls, A Heart So White (winner of the prestigious IMPAC Dublin International Literary award). He lives in Madrid. MARGARET JULL COSTA is Marias's long-standing, and prize-winning, translator. Translating from Spanish and Portuguese, she has also worked on books by Jose Saramago, Arturo Perez Reverto and Paulo Coelho, among many others.
