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Collected Memoirs
Julian Maclaren-Ross, with his carnation and silver-topped cane, his fur coat and dark glasses, was a natural bohemian and one of the most colourful inhabitants and chroniclers of the Soho and Fitzrovia of the forties, fifties and sixties. He knew and wrote about its most memorable characters including Dylan Thomas, Graham Greene, Cyril Connolly, Tambimuttu, Nina Hamnett and Woodrow Wyatt. He was something of a dandy and a gifted raconteur, and his life, often chaotic, and related unsentimentally by him in these memoirs, veered between the fringes of the literary establishment and occasional homelessness. Evoking a demolished era of incendiary bombs and rationing, Maclaren-Ross misses none of it and provides an anecdotal history of the place that, between the bombs, offered writers and artists a home away from home.
"An entertaining portrait of a wartime London seldom shown, together with six of the author's best stories." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
"An entertaining portrait of a wartime London seldom shown, together with six of the author's best stories." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
464 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Julian Maclaren-Ross
20 books39 followersThe English writer and dandy, Julian Maclaren-Ross (1912-64), is synonymous with the bohemian world of mid-twentieth-century Soho. There he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Dylan Thomas, Quentin Crisp, John Minton, Nina Hamnett, Joan Wyndham, Aleister Crowley, John Deakin, Augustus John, Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde. His theatrical dress sense — a sharp suit combined with his famous teddy-bear coat, aviator-style dark glasses and cigarette-holder — ensured that he stood out even in such flamboyant company. Intrigued by his stylish get-up and dissolute way of life, numerous writers, most notably Anthony Powell and Olivia Manning, used him as a model for characters in their fiction.
During the 1940s Maclaren-Ross was usually to be found in the Saloon Bar of the Wheatsheaf Pub on Rathbone Place, From the late 1930s until the late 1950s, this took over from the nearby Fitzroy Tavern as the most fashionable of the many watering-holes in North Soho, an area that has since become known as ‘Fitzrovia’.
Besides being one of Soho’s most famous denizens, Maclaren-Ross was the writer most responsible for defining its sleazy allure. He did so through a string of witty and influential short stories as well as his classic Memoirs of the Forties which also features memorable portraits of Graham Greene and Dylan Thomas.
But Maclaren-Ross is far more than just another sharp-eyed, literary bar-fly. During his lifetime he produced a substantial, astonishingly diverse body of writing which broke new ground in many genres. As an occasional film essayist, his writing about Alfred Hitchcock and film noir was well ahead of its time. As a short story writer and novelist, he introduced a new, vernacular, Americanised style to English fiction. As a writer of reportage, he anticipated Hunter S. Thomspon, Tom Wolfe and the other American ‘New Journalists’ of the 1960s. As a literary critic, he wrote with rare acuity about the writers as varied as Georges Simenon, Raymond Chandler, John Buchan, Frank Harris, Jean Cocteau, M.P. Sheil, Dashiell Hammett and Henry Green. As a memoirist, he was a forerunner of so many current writers who work in a similarly delicate, novelistic vein. As a literary parodist, he was praised by William Faulkner and P.G. Wodehouse. As a translator, he was very sensitive to stylistic nuances. And as a dramatist, he was hailed as ‘radio’s Alfred Hitchcock.’
His work was admired by writers Evelyn Waugh, John Betjeman, Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Cyril Connolly, Anthony Powell, Olivia Manning, John Lehmann, Lucian Freud and others. Since his premature death at the age of only fifty-two, he has become a cult favourite among fellow writers such as Harold Pinter, Michael Holroyd, John King, Iain Sinclair, Jonathan Meades, Chris Petit, D.J. Taylor and Virginia Ironside. His reputation has also been kept alive through the campaigning of groups such as the Lost Club and the Sohemian Society.
In the wake of the publication in 2003 of Paul Willetts’s Fear and Loathing in Fitzrovia, the first biography of Maclaren-Ross, there has been an enormous resurgence of interest in both his life and work. The critical and commercial success of the biography triggered a major republication programme which has brought his touching, influential and often witty work to the attention of a wider public. Critics have been unanimous in their praise, hailing him as a major twentieth-century writer.
During the 1940s Maclaren-Ross was usually to be found in the Saloon Bar of the Wheatsheaf Pub on Rathbone Place, From the late 1930s until the late 1950s, this took over from the nearby Fitzroy Tavern as the most fashionable of the many watering-holes in North Soho, an area that has since become known as ‘Fitzrovia’.
Besides being one of Soho’s most famous denizens, Maclaren-Ross was the writer most responsible for defining its sleazy allure. He did so through a string of witty and influential short stories as well as his classic Memoirs of the Forties which also features memorable portraits of Graham Greene and Dylan Thomas.
But Maclaren-Ross is far more than just another sharp-eyed, literary bar-fly. During his lifetime he produced a substantial, astonishingly diverse body of writing which broke new ground in many genres. As an occasional film essayist, his writing about Alfred Hitchcock and film noir was well ahead of its time. As a short story writer and novelist, he introduced a new, vernacular, Americanised style to English fiction. As a writer of reportage, he anticipated Hunter S. Thomspon, Tom Wolfe and the other American ‘New Journalists’ of the 1960s. As a literary critic, he wrote with rare acuity about the writers as varied as Georges Simenon, Raymond Chandler, John Buchan, Frank Harris, Jean Cocteau, M.P. Sheil, Dashiell Hammett and Henry Green. As a memoirist, he was a forerunner of so many current writers who work in a similarly delicate, novelistic vein. As a literary parodist, he was praised by William Faulkner and P.G. Wodehouse. As a translator, he was very sensitive to stylistic nuances. And as a dramatist, he was hailed as ‘radio’s Alfred Hitchcock.’
His work was admired by writers Evelyn Waugh, John Betjeman, Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Cyril Connolly, Anthony Powell, Olivia Manning, John Lehmann, Lucian Freud and others. Since his premature death at the age of only fifty-two, he has become a cult favourite among fellow writers such as Harold Pinter, Michael Holroyd, John King, Iain Sinclair, Jonathan Meades, Chris Petit, D.J. Taylor and Virginia Ironside. His reputation has also been kept alive through the campaigning of groups such as the Lost Club and the Sohemian Society.
In the wake of the publication in 2003 of Paul Willetts’s Fear and Loathing in Fitzrovia, the first biography of Maclaren-Ross, there has been an enormous resurgence of interest in both his life and work. The critical and commercial success of the biography triggered a major republication programme which has brought his touching, influential and often witty work to the attention of a wider public. Critics have been unanimous in their praise, hailing him as a major twentieth-century writer.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 7, 2014
Sharp and well written; Maclaren-Ross recollects his memories of Soho in the 1940s and throws in half a dozen short stories at the end. He is pretty much forgotten now; although his only novel “Of Love and Hunger” and his short stories are a little known in bookish circles. He was a celebrated raconteur, well known in the local pubs and clubs where he held court. His biographer Paul Willets describes his perorations around the edge of poverty and mental ill health. He moved continually to avoid creditors and landlords. Alcohol and drugs were a major influence and contributed to his early death. He was memorably the model for X Trapnel in Powell’s Dance to the Music of Time series of novels. Willets comments that Maclaren-Ross makes Kerouac and Bukowski seem like “models of stability and self-restraint” in comparison. Yet no one doubts that he could write; his admirers included Cyril Connolly, Waugh, Powell, Lucien Freud and Dylan Thomas.
The back cover of the book sums up the memoirs;
Why don't you try to look more sordid? Dylan Thomas advised Julian Maclaren-Ross, aghast at his cream silk shirt and silver-topped cane. They had just begun to write a Home Guard film script which steadily degenerated - between hangovers - into an eccentric comedy thriller. But Maclaren-Ross was a man who went about with the same sartorial dash whether up the BBC or down the Labour. He was a man who broke off from selling vacuum cleaners to have lunch with Graham Greene, who sniffed out Woodrow Wyatt in his army camp to talk modern fiction, who discussed a Horizon story with Cyril Connolly at the Cafe Royal and managed not to mention he was destitute.”
This is a mirror on a world long gone with insights into figures like Dylan Thomas, the marvellous and incredible Tambimuttu and various assorted artists (John Minton, Gerald Wilde, Macbryde and Colquhoun). However Maclaren-Ross is at his best when he is writing about his time in the army. He spent time in the army in the early 1940s, staying in England, and he brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the barracks and the life of the common soldier. The petty power struggles, idiotic officers, meaningless regulations and the variety of characters thrown together and mostly bored.
The memoirs are good; the short stories a mixed bag. The army stories are excellent and he also has a go at Empire in “A Bit of a Smash in Madras”, which captures very well the attitudes of middle ranking colonial staff (as did Orwell in Burmese Days).
Maclaren-Ross is a good writer, who wrote in a broad arena; novel, reviews, journalism, radio plays, magazines and primarily short stories. He was very talented and sadly wasted much of that talent. He is still worth reading though.
The back cover of the book sums up the memoirs;
Why don't you try to look more sordid? Dylan Thomas advised Julian Maclaren-Ross, aghast at his cream silk shirt and silver-topped cane. They had just begun to write a Home Guard film script which steadily degenerated - between hangovers - into an eccentric comedy thriller. But Maclaren-Ross was a man who went about with the same sartorial dash whether up the BBC or down the Labour. He was a man who broke off from selling vacuum cleaners to have lunch with Graham Greene, who sniffed out Woodrow Wyatt in his army camp to talk modern fiction, who discussed a Horizon story with Cyril Connolly at the Cafe Royal and managed not to mention he was destitute.”
This is a mirror on a world long gone with insights into figures like Dylan Thomas, the marvellous and incredible Tambimuttu and various assorted artists (John Minton, Gerald Wilde, Macbryde and Colquhoun). However Maclaren-Ross is at his best when he is writing about his time in the army. He spent time in the army in the early 1940s, staying in England, and he brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the barracks and the life of the common soldier. The petty power struggles, idiotic officers, meaningless regulations and the variety of characters thrown together and mostly bored.
The memoirs are good; the short stories a mixed bag. The army stories are excellent and he also has a go at Empire in “A Bit of a Smash in Madras”, which captures very well the attitudes of middle ranking colonial staff (as did Orwell in Burmese Days).
Maclaren-Ross is a good writer, who wrote in a broad arena; novel, reviews, journalism, radio plays, magazines and primarily short stories. He was very talented and sadly wasted much of that talent. He is still worth reading though.
July 28, 2008
I discovered the name and author Julian Maclaren-Ross by mistake. I saw the word 'dandy' and that is what caught my eye. Also the fact that Maclaren -Ross who was totally devoted to his look that is a combination of Oscar Wilde and an American (movie-style) gangster in Soho London circ. late 40's to the early 60's also caught my interest. But what is really strange is that he refused to be photographed, because of the money that he owed everyone. He didn't want to be noticed in his beloved Soho hangouts. Which is a strange position for a dandy...
Nevertheless Maclaren-Ross is an excellent writer who captured the mood and people of London Soho life in gritty and fantastic detail. Some of the pieces in this book are not as good as the others, so some parts are uneven, but still, the good parts are really great.
If you are a fan of Patrick Hamilton (and you should be) do pick up on his writings. Also the biography on Maclaren-Ross is superb as well.
Nevertheless Maclaren-Ross is an excellent writer who captured the mood and people of London Soho life in gritty and fantastic detail. Some of the pieces in this book are not as good as the others, so some parts are uneven, but still, the good parts are really great.
If you are a fan of Patrick Hamilton (and you should be) do pick up on his writings. Also the biography on Maclaren-Ross is superb as well.
February 5, 2018
Another winner from Julian Maclaren-Ross.
I'd previously read his novel 'Of Love and Hunger' and, prior to that, Paul Willetts's biography 'Fear and Loathing in Fitzrovia'. His was a hand to mouth existence, and - for anyone interested in the 1940s, and literary London - this biography is well worth reading.
This is probably not the ideal entry point. I'd recommend 'Of Love and Hunger' first, and then Paul Willetts' biography, by which time you'll be hooked and quite possibly do what I did, which is go online and buy every title you can lay your hands on. Alas, there's precious few of them.
His 'Memoirs of the Forties' are highly readable and evoke a long lost era. In common with 'Of Love and Hunger', Julian Maclaren-Ross uses informal, colloquial language to bring his stories to life. This really is great stuff. Next stop for this confirmed admirer is his 'Selected Stories'.
I'd previously read his novel 'Of Love and Hunger' and, prior to that, Paul Willetts's biography 'Fear and Loathing in Fitzrovia'. His was a hand to mouth existence, and - for anyone interested in the 1940s, and literary London - this biography is well worth reading.
This is probably not the ideal entry point. I'd recommend 'Of Love and Hunger' first, and then Paul Willetts' biography, by which time you'll be hooked and quite possibly do what I did, which is go online and buy every title you can lay your hands on. Alas, there's precious few of them.
His 'Memoirs of the Forties' are highly readable and evoke a long lost era. In common with 'Of Love and Hunger', Julian Maclaren-Ross uses informal, colloquial language to bring his stories to life. This really is great stuff. Next stop for this confirmed admirer is his 'Selected Stories'.
March 13, 2010
I LOVE JM-R!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews