King of the City (Paperback)

Customers buy this book with Mother London by Michael Moorcock

+

Price For Both: £12.98

Show availability and shipping details

• This item: King of the City by Michael Moorcock

  In stock.
  Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
  This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
  

• Mother London by Michael Moorcock

  In stock.
  Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
  This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
  

Mother London by Michael Moorcock 4.9 out of 5 stars (30)  £6.99

All the Devils are Here by David Seabrook 3.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £5.99

Gloriana (Fantasy Masterworks) by Michael Moorcock 4.9 out of 5 stars (10)  £5.49

Byzantium Endures (Between the Wars) by Michael Moorcock 4.9 out of 5 stars (8)  £6.99

Downriver by Iain Sinclair 4.3 out of 5 stars (6)  £7.19

› Explore similar items

Amazon.co.uk Review
Michael Moorcock at his unbeatable best: King of the City is a thunderous 400-odd page salvo that is another great London novel as well as a scarifying picture of excess and corruption, seen through the eyes of sleazy photographer Denny Dover. For those who relished Moorcock's massive (and massively entertaining) novel Mother London and enjoyed his epic literary novel Gloriana, King of the City will be manna from Heaven.

Since the demise of Princess Di brought about a change in the English soul, the new thinking has kicked tabloid paparazzi photographers like Denny out of work. He fetches up in the benighted wastes of Skerring on the south coast of England, only to sink into dreams of his days as a substance-abusing, sexually omnivorous rock star and existential maverick. Denny is galvanised when his childhood friend, massively wealthy magnate John Barbican-Begg, proves that rumours of his death are greatly exaggerated. Denny has to deal with both his collusion in Begg's avaricious ambitions and--far worse--the apparent seduction of his beautiful cousin Rosie. Comparisons with Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities will be thrown up but although this shares the same glittering surface (and is couched in language that is similarly elegant, demotic and malignantly witty), Moorcock essentially concentrates on four characters rather than the more scattershot approach of Wolfe. This is a shame, as Moorcock could have fleshed out some of the minor characters. No matter: for those who lived through the 1960s, this will be the definitive document. For those too young to remember it, a trip in this particular time machine will plunge them into a dizzying and phantasmagoric world in which anything goes.

The treatment of modern Britain is equally vivid, etched with a razor-sharp scalpel. The mixture of fictional and real-life characters is brought off with the kind of panache we have come to expect from Moorcock and the more serious issues he takes on (imperialism, greed, personal integrity) are perfectly integrated into the Dickensian canvas. But, finally, it is the language that will soon have people quoting wholesale from the book:

The one big lesson American consumerism taught Europe is how to strip your own psychic assets. How to sell your self-respect in return for a handout and the chance of a class-action court case. How to squeeze a handsome buck out of a murdered ancestor, maximise the profit on your birthright ... now we're all plodding through the same toxic haze of urine, grease, carbon monoxide and degenerated plastic that has eaten away the city's deregulated gilt and left us coughing up crap.

--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
Michael Moorcock's Mother London remains one of the best 20th century novels about the city. Twelve years on the author makes a welcome return to the matter of London, seen this time through the eyes of hard-bitten journalist and sometime rock guitarist Dennis Dover. Looking back over his upbringing in the inner city London area of Brookgate, Dover talks about his relationship with his beloved cousin Rosie and describes the unscrupulous rise to power of another cousin, John Barbican Begg. Through Dover's boozy, drug-hazed memoirs, Moorcock addresses the confused, corrupt, mythical and historic post-Diana London into which are woven local hard men, ex-boxers, South London music halls, rock and roll stars, lovers, ancestors and empire building corporate tyrants. In his vivid portrait of contemporary London, Moorcock conveys forcefully many of the city's mistakes and tragedies, yet never forgetting its often obscured but underlying magic. (Kirkus UK)

Shortlisted for the Whitbread, nominated for the Booker: another fabulous ride through London's recent history-here, the last four decades-that manages to be as sprawling as a Victorian social novel and as vigorous as an 18th-century picaresque. Author of more than 70 novels (including the SF trilogy begun with "Blood", 1995), Moorcock here picks up where he left off-artistically, not literally-with "Mother London "(1989). The story concerns three lives. Narrator Dennis Dover, son of the last Londoner hanged for murder, started out as a documentary photographer and ended up a sleazy paparazzo-and now, in newly sensitive, post-Di England-is unemployed. From this miserable perch, he takes a long, bitter, nostalgic, backwards look. Then there's Rosie, Dennis's cousin, whom Dennis dearly loves and who also, like Dennis, managed to pull herself out of working-class Brookgate. But most importantly, there's John Barbican Begg, who has evolved, through genius and ruthless avarice, into a media magnate, one of the world's wealthiest men. As these three move through the pop-riddled '60s, through the years of drugs, assassinations, and social upheavals and on to Thatcherite England and the present day, Moorcock fills the tale with real characters and situations, made-up characters and situations, and those somewhere in between. Americans at times may feel they could use a concordance-presumably the Brits could figure it out for themselves when it was published in England last year-but you soon give up caring. Moorcock's storytelling is just too powerful in a novel more than likely to invite comparisons to Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities". Certainly Moorcock strikes his big themes: sojourns to Africa and the Balkans echo with imperialism (both cultural and corporate) while contemporary London loses its soul to American-style consumerism. Yet at the same time "King of the City "is far more idiosyncratic than Wolfe's book-and more successful because of it-with a strongly autobiographic feel. Dennis, Rosie, and John Begg never illustrate the fable, as Moorcock calls it, but it emerges completely through them. One of our topmost novelists writing at the peak of his powers. (Kirkus Reviews)

See all Product Description

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Search inside this book:

24 Reviews 5 star:  (22) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.8 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Michael Moorcock ever get fed up with it, 20 Dec 2003 By  Arnold Gold - See all my reviews Fed up with these brilliant literary novels being described, even here, as 'science fiction and fantasy' ? I enjoy a very wide range of fiction and am no snob about sf, finding much of it as good as the best literary fiction, but those who don't like sf (and there are many who simply don't find it to their taste) are missing out on some of the best contemporary fiction if they assume Michael Moorcock only writes generic fiction. I have now read The Brothel in Rosenstrasse, Byzantium Endures, The Laughter of Carthage, Jerusalem Commands, London Bone, Mother London and now King of the City. That's seven rich and ambitious literary works which, had they been written by a writer not known for his fantasy (and I would add Gloriana as a literary novel, rather than a fantasy) would without doubt be regarded as 'one of our leading British novelists' as more than one critic has described him. King of the City is a wonderful, warm, sardonic tale of our times, written from the viewpoint of a tabloid newsman who wrong foots a story and finds himself driven out into the media wasteland. He looks back on a life of news photography and rock and roll, especially in relation to his benign cousin Rosie (a charity professional) and his wicked cousin Barbican, who becomes one of the richest men in the world. There are dozens and dozens of other memorable characters, some extraordinary scenes, some wonderful invented parts of London (Moorcock's own borough is the fictitious Brookgate, squeezed between Holborn and Clerkenwell) and language which the likes of Martin Amis would die to be able to emulate. Yet though this novel obviously got brilliant reviews, it can only be bought easily via Amazon and is hardly present in any shops. Hooray for Amazon, of course, where I have been able to buy several of the novels mentioned above, but it how is it possible such a fine, intelligent novelist is hardly present in any lists when someone who is nowhere as good, such as Mr Amis, is virtually a household word. I know this is a bit of a rant, but I would earnestly recommend anyone who has not picked up a Michael Moorcock novel to have a look at this one, or possibly Mother London, or even London Bone (which is short stories) and give him a try! This work will last when more fashionable fiction is dead and gone. Invest in him now!! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A reaction to me-ism and the selfish nineties, 12 Jan 2002 By A Customer He's a slippery old bugger, this Moorcock. As soon as you think you've got him pinned down, he's off again doing something totally unexpected. I thought this would be another 'Mother London' and was looking forward to it a lot. In fact it's not much like 'Mother London' at all -- it's almost the opposite. Mother London was a celebration. King of the City is an elegy. But because Moorcock's optimism is maybe his only consistent trait from book to book, even this grim fable gradually becomes ebullient, positive, ultimately thoroughly, unreservedly optimistic. But this optimism, it seems to say, doesn't come free. You need to pay in, to trust your community, to identify your interest with that of the bricks and mortar (and concrete) of the modern city and, ultimately, the moral responsibility is all yours. Some people thought this book attacked capitalism. For me it celebrates capitalism and democracy -- but not the ersatz versions or the aggressive versions -- this celebrates honest trade and tolerant cosmopolitanism and doesn't go for easy targets at all. It's always unwise to identify too much with a Moorcock narrator -- or to believe that Moorcock identifies with his narrator... Hasn't anyone noticed yet how consistently good and interesting Moorcock has been over a forty year career ? Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, 8 Feb 2004 By  "redbab" - See all my reviews This review is from: King of the City (Paperback) I got this for Christmas and had finished it the day after Boxing Day. What a trip! One long rush of words and ideas that makes all the Will Selfs and Nick Hornbys look like witless amateurs. I wish I'd know about this book sooner. I enjoyed Mother London enormously. It is a warm, generous, deep and moving book. King of the City reads as if that generous heart has finally taken all it can stand. Its clever understanding of Blair's arrogance and dreams, its description of the Royal Family, its anger over Rwanda and Bosnia anticipate the worse that was to come. Yet that love of London -- for all that this London is mainly invented (though very credible) -- shines through and the coda in the bleak seaside town reminds you of every bad British holiday you've ever taken. I can't recommend King of the City enough. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 24 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Fast, furious, funny -- and even more up to the moment than when it was written. Denny Dover, photo-journalists, gets mixed up in some bent corporate politics which is destroying the section of... Read more Published on 12 Jul 2002 5.0 out of 5 stars Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll in London This book is brilliant. It captures the mood of seventies and eightees London, all the way up to the near future. Read more Published on 4 Feb 2002 5.0 out of 5 stars Mother London 2002 Where Mother London ended around 1990, this book starts in the late 50s, describes the bohemian scene of the 60s and 70s and the cynical 'me' years of the 80s and 90s. Read more Published on 28 Nov 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece in the Jerry Cornelius vein This is Moorcock face to face with the world's events as they unroll just as in the Jerry Cornelius stories. Read more Published on 21 Oct 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars Not sf or fantasy This book was first listed as 'Fiction and Literature' and is now listed as 'Science Fiction'. It is no more science fiction than The Brothel in Rosenstrasse, The Chinese Agent,... Read more Published on 27 Jun 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars Best thing he's done, ever. This is definitive Moorcock. Rock music, substance abuse, London, corruption. The city is as much a character as the protagonists (and there are a more than few nods to other... Read more Published on 18 Jun 2001 by Peter Fenelon 5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing This is fast-moving, hard-hitting as the latest London thriller and it's ANGRY. I bought this at the same time as Maureen Duffy's CAPITAL, which I would also thoroughly... Read more Published on 4 Jun 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars Great! This was a wonderful read. I've never read a modern novel so full of ideas and life. Makes you laugh, cry and think. Stunning. Moorcock is a marvel. Published on 4 Jun 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars King of the Bookshelves I did not buy this when it came out last year because the review I had read had suggested it was hard to read. Read more Published on 14 May 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing else as good on the market This was brilliant. It's out in ordinary paperback now and about the best six or seven quid's worth of EVERYTHING I have read in a very long time. Read more Published on 10 May 2001 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 24 customer reviews...

Great Fantasy I Have Read: A list by Mark   Painfully Good Stuff: A list by Agamemnon   Brilliant 21st Century Science Fiction: A list by SciFi Fanatic Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

• Books > Fiction > By Period
• Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > M > Moorcock, Michael

• 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.