H. G. Wells: Another Kind of Life - Softcover

Sherborne, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0720613914 ISBN 13: 9780720613919

Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers, 2012

Synopsis

An unlikely lothario, one of the most successful writers of his time, a figure at the heart of the age's political and artistic debates—H. G. Wells's life is a great story in its own right

When H. G. Wells left school in 1880 at 13 he seemed destined for obscurity—yet he defied expectations, becoming one of the most famous writers in the world. He wrote classic science-fiction tales such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds; reinvented the Dickensian novel in Kipps and The History of Mr Polly; pioneered postmodernism in experimental fiction; and harangued his contemporaries in polemics which included two bestselling histories of the world. He brought equal energy to his outrageously promiscuous love life—a series of affairs embraced distinguished authors such as Dorothy Richardson and Rebecca West, the gun-toting travel writer Odette Keun, and Russian spy Moura Budberg. Until his death in 1946 Wells had artistic and ideological confrontations with everyone from Henry James to George Orwell, from Churchill to Stalin. He remains a controversial figure, attacked by some as a philistine, sexist, and racist, praised by others as a great writer, a prophet of globalization, and a pioneer of human rights. Setting the record straight, this authoritative biography is the first full-scale account to include material from the long-suppressed skeleton correspondence with his mistresses and illegitimate daughter.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Sherborne is the former editor of The Wellsian and chairman of the H. G. Wells Society. Christopher Priest is the award-winning author of such novels as Inverted World, The Islanders, and The Prestige. He has been strongly influenced by the science fiction of H. G. Wells and in 2006 was appointed to the position of vice president of the H. G. Wells Society.

Review:

"With access to heretofore-unpublished letters and a singular grasp of Wells' genius, moxie, and failings, Sherborne is the first to portray the protean, scandalous, world-changing writer in full."  —Booklist

"Accessible to readers interested either in the roots of science fiction/fantasy or in literary biography, but scholarly enough for literature students as well."  —Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0720613914
• ISBN 13: 9780720613919
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400