false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170901699m/77866.jpg 77866 13 Logan Gonzago Mountstuart, writer, was born in 1906, and died of a heart attack on October 5, 1991, aged 85. William Boyd's novel <I>Any Human Heart</I> is his disjointed autobiography, a massive tome chronicling "my personal rollercoaster"--or rather, "not so much a rollercoaster", but a yo-yo, "a jerking spinning toy in the hands of a maladroit child." From his early childhood in Montevideo, son of an English corned beef executive and his Uraguayan secretary, through his years at a Norfolk public school and Oxford, Mountstuart traces his haphazard development as a writer. Early and easy success is succeeded by a long half-century of mediocrity, disappointments and setbacks, both personal and professional, leading him to multiple failed marriages, internment, alcoholism and abject poverty. <p> Mountstuart's sorry tale is also the story of a British way of life in inexorable decline, as his journey takes in the Bloomsbury set, the General Strike, the Spanish Civil War, 1930s Americans in Paris, wartime espionage, New York avant garde art, even the Baader-Meinhof gang--all with a stellar supporting cast. The most sustained and best moment comes mid-book, as Mountstuart gets caught up in one of Britain's murkier wartime secrets, in the company of the here truly despicable Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Elsewhere author William Boyd occasionally misplaces his tongue too obviously in his cheek--the Wall Street Crash is trailed with truly crashing inelegance--but overall <I>Any Human Heart</I> is a witty, inventive and ultimately moving novel. Boyd succeeds in conjuring not only a compelling 20th century but also, in the hapless Logan Mountstuart, an anti-hero who achieves something approaching passive greatness. <I>--Alan Stewart</I>, Amazon.co.uk 2237564 2002 Any Human Heart total:543|5:214|4:197|3:96|2:29|1:6| 543 2214 750 101 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Sep 24 14:16:23 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 15 14:41:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Aug 21 04:51:37 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 06 22:31:38 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 04:51:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Dec 07 14:57:11 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 07 15:10:09 -0800 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Nov 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 12:51:59 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 17:58:05 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Apr 30 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Fri Aug 07 06:23:40 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 06:24:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jul 11 13:57:55 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 14:09:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Wed Sep 03 06:23:32 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 06:24:43 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Mar 24 07:48:57 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 07:58:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Aug 25 08:49:47 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 08:50:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Oct 17 05:15:09 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 05:16:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 14:32:48 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 21:07:29 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 13 16:34:35 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 10 16:34:58 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu May 31 11:05:06 -0700 2007 Thu May 31 11:05:06 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 15:45:12 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 15:16:56 -0700 2009 It was good...quite long..but it is the entire life story, told through journal entries of a British boy/man who lived from the beginning to the end of the 20th century...in England, France, Nigeria...and traveled all ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Nov 24 15:00:59 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 17:04:22 -0800 2008
Any Human Heart recounts the sprawling life of Logan Mountstuart, which spans every decade of the twentieth century.
Told in the form of Logan's diary entries, we vicariously share his exploits in life and love together with some of the defining ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Oct 24 07:37:24 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 12:34:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 10:17:32 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 10:20:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Oct 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 08:39:39 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 17:43:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed May 06 11:25:36 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 15:07:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 11:16:34 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 15:18:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=77866