Cultural Amnesia - Hardcover

James, Clive

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0330481746 ISBN 13: 9780330481748

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007

Synopsis

‘In the forty years it took me to write this book, I only gradually realized that the finished work, if it were going to be true to the pattern of my experience, would have no pattern... The book I wanted to write had its origins in the books I was reading. Several times, in my early days, I had to sell my best books to buy food, so I never underlined anything. When conditions improved I became less fastidious. Not long after I began marking passages for future consideration, I also began keeping notes in the margin beside the markings, and then longer notes on the endpapers... As the time for assembling my reflections approached, I resolved that a premature synthesis was the thing to be avoided. So this is a book about how not to reach one. If I have done my job properly, themes will emerge from the apparent randomness and make this work intelligible. But it will undoubtedly be a turbulent read, and if this book were not difficult, it would not be true.’ A lifetime in the making, Cultural Amnesia is the book Clive James has always wanted to write. Organized from A through to Z, and containing over 100 essays, it’s the ultimate guide to the twentieth century, illuminating the careers of many of its greatest thinkers, humanists, musicians, artists and philosophers. From Louis Armstrong to Ludwig Wittgenstein, via Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud, Franz Kafka and Marcel Proust, it’s a book for our times – and, indeed, for all time.

About this title

About the Author

Clive James is the author of more than twenty books. As well as essays, he has published collections of literary and television criticism, travel writing, verse and novels, plus three volumes of autobiography. In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature.

From AudioFile

Memoirist, critic, and talk show host Clive James gives us his own philosophy in his reactions to the lives and art of others, presenting the world in a string of gorgeous cameos. Hitler, Freud, and Louis Armstrong all appear. The author's catholicity of taste astounds. The "c's," for instance, include Albert Camus, G.K. Chesterton, and Tony Curtis. Born in Australia and educated at Cambridge, James has a rich voice, with the slight nasal overtone indicative of a head cold or high culture. He does not believe in God, but his comprehension of recent history approaches omniscience. His honeyed voice and explosive style are both delightful. This is an elite seminar taught by a stand-up comedian. I listened twice, then ordered the text. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0330481746
• ISBN 13: 9780330481748
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 896