Anthony Powell

Praise

“An elegant, affectionate biography.” —John Banville, The New Republic
 
“A shrewd, judicious biography. . . . Spurling is one of Britain’s finest biographers.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Excellent and vivid. . . . Powell emerges from this exemplary and deliciously readable account not only as a novelist of considerable significance . . . but also as a human being of great wit, impressive modesty and firm integrity. He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.” —Claire Messud, The Guardian

“[Spurling] is a superb biographer . . . and this new book is everything readers have come to expect from her. It’s thorough, judicious and gracefully written.” —The New Yorker

“A meticulous biography that deftly connects the life and work. . . . Where Spurling excels is in her punchy analyses of his novels and her understanding of the writer’s life.” —The Financial Times
 
“The definitive account of Anthony Powell, one of the most prominent and respected 20th-century writers. . . . Spurling is especially good at delineating Powell’s many relationships with . . . leading literary figures.” —Library Journal (Starred Review)
 
“In this biography, Powell gets what he deserves—a biographer of wide sympathy and human understanding, in tune with a style of manners and a way of thinking that is slowly vanishing. . . . Powell was a writer as self-doubting and as shockingly original as Beckett. It’s good to have a commentator who understands that.” —Philip Hensher, Spectator (London)