In Two Minds: a Biography of Jonathan Miller: A Biography of Jonathan Miller - Softcover

Bassett, Kate

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1783190892 ISBN 13: 9781783190898

Publisher: Oberon Books, 2015

Synopsis

New in paperback, In Two Minds is the first comprehensive biography of Jonathan Miller the story of one of post-war Britain’s most intriguing polymaths. Descended from immigrants who fled Tsarist anti-Semitism to become shopkeepers in Ireland and London’s East End, Miller was born into an intellectual milieu, between Bloomsbury and Harley Street the son of a novelist and a leading child psychiatrist. Miller trained as a doctor but then forged a career as a stellar comedian and as a world-renowned theatre and opera director.

He is a controversial humourist, public intellectual and TV personality. As a star in the groundbreaking satirical revue Beyond the Fringe, he shot to fame alongside Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. His expertise and interests encompass many areas, from medicine (he wrote and presented the hugely acclaimed BBC documentary series The Body in Question) to the history of art, Mozart, atheism and the nature of laughter.

Jonathan Miller is one of the most multi-talented Britons of his generation, celebrated for his dazzling intelligence and anti-establishmentarian wit. Drawing on in-depth interviews, this is an entertaining and illuminating portrait of a fascinatingly complex man.

About this title

About the Author:

Kate Bassett is a freelance theatre critic, and has previously worked in that capacity for The Independent on Sunday, The Times and the Daily Telegraph. Other publications have included the Guardian, Time Out, City Limits, the TLS and the New Statesman where she has written features and reviews. She has also taught, given platform talks and regularly discusses stage productions with theatre-going tour groups.

Review:

"A remarkable portrait of a complex and Coleridgean figure, a man in two minds about himself for most of his life." (Five stars) - "Telegraph"
"Scrupulously researched, always fascinating... As Bassett says in her admirably measured book, there's 'bile and bitterness' here. As she demonstrates, there's also genius." - London "Times"
"Compelling.. a dense, exhaustively well-researched portrait... a persuasive, ultimately rather sad portrait of a North London Jewish boy." - Sunday "Times"
"Bassett is herself a fine, fierce theatre critic - her write-ups of Miller's productions have verve and perceptive grace... thorough... entertaining." - "Guardian"
"An admirably thorough job of a biography: sympathetic, deeply researched, informed by long conversations with Miller and dozens of friends, colleagues and, occasionally, enemies." "Spectator"
"Kate Bassett's fascinating book draws together the many strands that combine to make this renaissance man." "Jewish Chronicle"
"Sir Jonathan Miller is a remarkable man. As one of the great egocentrics of his generation, he would not question this judgment... Ms Bassett's first-class biography does not mask Sir Jonathan's weaknesses, but she says that, "in conversation, his flaws seem more tragicomic than intolerable--the bile and bitterness never quite obliterate the man's warmth.'" - "Economist"
"Absorbing, in-depth and erudite... Bassett, who clearly likes and respects her subject but isn't overawed by him, sensibly marshals the arguments on both sides and leaves it up to the reader how posterity will regard Miller." - "Observer"
"Kate Bassett's brilliant, exhaustively researched biography... reminds us what a truly astonishing man he is. Just try to imagine post-war British culture without him." - "Jewish Chronicle"
"Intensively researched... Kate Bassett pays a fantastic tribute to a great, if sometimes irascible man... Where Kate Bassett really scores is in paintin

About this edition

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1783190892
• ISBN 13: 9781783190898
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 488