Muriel Spark Biography - Hardcover

Martin Stannard

3.88

170 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 029781592X ISBN 13: 9780297815921

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2008

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From the Back Cover:

“Martin Stannard’s biography of Muriel Spark―dark queen of postwar British fiction and, for me at least, one of the great writers of all time―is as astonishing as his subject. In his chronicle of her rich, adverse, and inexplicable life and work he has, like a brilliant lepidopterist, managed to catch her and pin her down while preserving her elusive genius as an artist and a woman in the twentieth century.” ―Jenny McPhee, author of A Man of No Moon

“Excellent . . . superbly detailed . . . , patient, affectionate, sometimes funny and . . . very intelligent. It is hard to believe that the work could have been done better.” ―Frank Kermode, London Review of Books

“Will undoubtedly be the standard biography of a writer with perhaps the most distinctive voice . . . in postwar British fiction.” ―Mark Bostridge, The Observer

“This account will not be surpassed.” ―Bryan Cheyette, The Independent

“Gripping, . . . rich, complex . . . well worth the wait. Witty, readable, and well researched, it is about as satisfying as a literary biography can be.” ―Frances Wilson, Daily Telegraph

“[Stannard’s] triumph is to have produced an account that . . . revealed [Spark’s] vanity and egotism so unmistakably, as well as her courage, vitality and determination.” ―John Carey, The Times

“Stannard is himself now a giant of his genre. . . . [He] brilliantly and sympathetically effaces the self-mythology of Spark’s well-known public image . . . a gifted biographer with a fine turn of phrase.” Martin McQuillan, Times Higher Education Supplement

“A wonderful blend of scholarly fact and juicy storytelling.” ―Katheryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday

“Exceptionally well written and lively.” ―Robin Baird-Smith, Tablet

“A best biography of the year.” ?Nicholas Shakespeare, Daily Telegraph

About the Author:

Martin Stannard is Professor of Modern English Literature at the University of Leicester and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

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