Damn You, England: Collected Prose

by John Osborne

John Osborne is famous not only for his plays but for his own particular brand of well-aimed attacks, and many people argue that he will be as much remembered for his prose, which includes the two volumes of autobiography already published by Faber, and a whole career's worth of diary columns, reviews of plays, books, films and letters to editors. This is anthology of the best of these pieces.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 1994

About the author

People best know British playwright John James Osborne, member of the Angry Young Men, for his play Look Back in Anger (1956); vigorous social protest characterizes works of this group of English writers of the 1950s.

This screenwriter acted and criticized the Establishment. The stunning success of Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre. In a productive life of more than four decades, Osborne explored many themes and genres, writing for stage, film and television. His extravagant and iconoclastic personal life flourished. He notoriously used language of the ornate violence on behalf of the political causes that he supported and against his own family, including his wives and children, who nevertheless often gave as good as they got.

He came onto the theatrical scene at a time when British acting enjoyed a golden age, but most great plays came from the United States and France. The complexities of the postwar period blinded British plays. In the post-imperial age, Osborne of the writers first addressed purpose of Britain. He first questioned the point of the monarchy on a prominent public stage. During his peak from 1956 to 1966, he helped to make contempt an acceptable and then even cliched onstage emotion, argued for the cleansing wisdom of bad behavior and bad taste, and combined unsparing truthfulness with devastating wit.

Reviews

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book of the prose of the playwright John Osborne.
Witty, incisive and at times downright cutting he pulls no punches and insults and also flatters people he knew without compunction.
Collected from diaries, ramblings, newspaper articles, reviews and other sources this is Osborne at his acerbic best and is a must for his fans who are interested to know his thoughts and views on well, practically everything.
Well worth reading.

[Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to know the history of John Osborne, the original and still Angry Young Man of Britain, whose first play "Look Back in Anger" shook the establishment and changed the face of the British theater for ever.

Brilliantly written and brimming with hatred

[Tosh]

This is one of those perfect moments when I walked down Chappel Market in Islington London and presto - this book appeared in front of me, as well as "Billy Liar." The British raise their heads and I caught the 'sight.'