One Man's Chorus: The Uncollected Writings

by Anthony Burgess, Ben Forkner

In a collection of nonfiction writings, the British novelist addresses his childhood, his experiences in Malaysia and Monaco, his own work and its critics, and the work of his contemporaries

Genres: Nonfiction, Short Stories

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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

[JOEY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burgess' killer British acid wit is unique and provocative because he observed British culture as an émigré . . . his cosmopolitan, analytical, and simultaneously intuitive and edgy takes on then-current positions concerning classic and avant-garde literature, culture, and politics should reinforce his stature as an important 20th century mind, as his essays are, I think, as relevant if not moreso than they were decades ago because his observations have proven to be spot-on; those very mindsets he has problems with are ones that continue to remain unchecked today. (See: his essays on Joyce, Thatcherism, Belli)

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

These brief essays on literature, music, and 20th century social history are delightful, like listening to an old man's monologues over a glass of whiskey. As that picture conjures up, they are opinionated, funny, wise, articulate, sometimes repetitive, and occasionally cringeworthy. Unlike such conversations, they never overstay their welcome and never cajole: perfect company for an evening or two.

[=====D · Rating 3 out of 5]

These essay are occasionally good (esp. about music), often stupid (whenever discussing politics), but interesting in so far as they offered an answer to why so many of the great writers are (were) fascists: high art is not a democratic institution. Perhaps its as simple as that.

[Fishsanwitt]

catalogued

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love, love, love Anthony Burgess. What a creative mind and to see all of his short stories in one compilation is, well, awesome!!!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made an index for this book here:
https://jamesnaudi.wordpress.com/2019...

[Steve Clark]

Edition: 1st Carroll & Graf Ed