Since the publication of his debut novel ‘A Good Man in Africa’, William Boyd’s work has regularly been awarded accolades, from the Whitbread Literary Award for the Best First Novel in 1981 to the 2006 Costa Novel Award for Restless. The author even manages to produce award-winning wines. However, despite being shortlisted for the Richard and Judy Best Read of 2007, he still doesn’t receive enough publicity. Although his current title, The Dream Lover, is a freshly packaged collection of previously published short stories, it is hoped that it might bring his work to a wider audience.
More readers should be aware of Logan Mountstuart, son of a corned beef exporter, born 1906, died 1991, and his life described in the journal, Any Human Heart, justifiably available in the Penguins Celebrations range. A personal account of the 20th century, from his days at a Norfolk public school to his more troubled times - The Dogfood Years - it is funny, dramatic and poignant.
After that, any reader with a further thirst for fictional lives lived during the whole of the last century could turn to the earlier work, The New Confessions, the autobiography of John James Todd, ‘one of the great self-appointed (and failed) geniuses.’ They would discover personal accounts of the First World War, the Berlin film scene in the thirties and an unforgettable example of maternal soothing in the 1900s.
Every one of Boyd’s novels is a unique creation and they deserve a place in loving homes. They are captivating stories with wonderful characters in original settings and need to be read.
Gustave Flaubert stated; ‘Do not read for the sake of entertainment, or for the purpose or instruction. Read in order to live.’
Pick up a William Boyd novel and experience all three.
More readers should be aware of Logan Mountstuart, son of a corned beef exporter, born 1906, died 1991, and his life described in the journal, Any Human Heart, justifiably available in the Penguins Celebrations range. A personal account of the 20th century, from his days at a Norfolk public school to his more troubled times - The Dogfood Years - it is funny, dramatic and poignant.
After that, any reader with a further thirst for fictional lives lived during the whole of the last century could turn to the earlier work, The New Confessions, the autobiography of John James Todd, ‘one of the great self-appointed (and failed) geniuses.’ They would discover personal accounts of the First World War, the Berlin film scene in the thirties and an unforgettable example of maternal soothing in the 1900s.
Every one of Boyd’s novels is a unique creation and they deserve a place in loving homes. They are captivating stories with wonderful characters in original settings and need to be read.
Gustave Flaubert stated; ‘Do not read for the sake of entertainment, or for the purpose or instruction. Read in order to live.’
Pick up a William Boyd novel and experience all three.
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