On Going to Bed

by Anthony Burgess

"On Going To Bed" is a historical survey of the bed in theory and practice, “a wealth of general bed-lore”, by Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess. “We may divine that kings and queens did not sleep any better on their ornate machines than peasants on their mud floors (Shakespeare is always going on about this), but the elaboration of a bed had nothing to do with somniference. It was all a matter of symbolism . . . the kingly bed anticipated the kingly tomb, and even hinted at the possibility of resurrection.” Lavishly illustrated with photographs of famous beds, including those of Mary Tudor, George Washington, and Napoleon Bonaparte, and beds painted by the likes of Raphael, Goya, Delacroix, and Van Gogh, with a reproduction of Toulouse-Lautrec’s “In Bed” on the dust jacket.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Seriocomic novels of noted British writer and critic Anthony Burgess, pen name of John Burgess Wilson, include the futuristic classic A Clockwork Orange (1962).

He composed also a librettos, poems, plays, screens, and essays and traveled, broadcast, translated, linguist and educationalist. He lived for long periods in southeastern Asia, the United States of America, and Europe along Mediterranean Sea as well as England. His fiction embraces the Malayan trilogy ( The Long Day Wanes ) on the dying days of empire in the east. The Enderby quartet concerns a poet and his muse. Nothing like the Sun re-creates love life of William Shakespeare. He explores the nature of evil with Earthly Powers , a panoramic saga of the 20th century. He published studies of James Joyce, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Shakespeare, and David Herbert Lawrence. He produced the treatises Language Made Plain and A Mouthful of Air . His journalism proliferated in several languages. He translated and adapted Cyrano de Bergerac , Oedipus the King , and Carmen for the stage. He scripted Jesus of Nazareth and Moses the Lawgiver for the screen. He invented the prehistoric language, spoken in Quest for Fire . He composed the Sinfoni Melayu , the Symphony (No. 3) in C , and the opera Blooms of Dublin .

Reviews

[Steve Groves · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hasn't aged well. Has some quirky personal observations on the author's life, but much better to read his books of autobiographies.

[Kennedy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy reading this at all. Felt unfinished.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book of all time- I pick it up monthly and am always fascinated.

[Sarah Karbassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is humorous and fascinating, Mr. Burgess does not disappoint.

[Steve Clark]

1982