First published 1984
Christopher Isherwood gathers nearly forty years of his writing into what he calls autobiographical fragments. These pieces reveal themselves through exhibits rather than direct confession. The collection opens with playful verses about cormorants laying eggs in paper bags, then moves through a funny preparatory school tale before turning to deeper territory. Isherwood examines his Quaker beliefs against the Bhagavad-Gita's apparent endorsement of warfare. He offers sharp literary commentary on Baudelaire, H.G. Wells, George Santayana, Katherine Mansfield, and Virginia Woolf among others. The book reviews, articles, stories, and poems span from light entertainment to serious reflection. Each piece adds evidence about a writer whose personality emerges as both witty and multifaceted. The fragments create an indirect autobiography that builds its portrait through accumulated insights rather than chronological narrative.
Genres: literary-criticism, literary-fiction, 20th-century, autobiography, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: autobiographical-fragments, indirect-autobiography
Period: 20th-century
Hardcover · Methuen Publishing Ltd