Bernard Shaw: The One-Volume Definitive Edition

by Michael Holroyd

"We regard Mr. Holroyd with awe, as a prodigy among biographers."― The New York Times Book Review In a single-volume format, Michael Holroyd's masterpiece of a biography offers new verve and pace; Shaw's world is more dramatically revealed as Holroyd counterpoints the private and public Shaw with inimitable insight and scholarship. 27 black-and-white illustrations

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

864 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Michael Holroyd is the author of acclaimed biographies of George Bernard Shaw, the painter Augustus John, Lytton Strachey, and Ellen Terry and Henry Irving, as well as two memoirs, Basil Street Blues and Mosaic. Knighted for his services to literature, he is the president emeritus of the Royal Society of Literature and the only nonfiction writer to have been awarded the David Cohen British Prize for Literature. His previous book, A Strange Eventful History, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography in 2009. He lives in London with his wife, the novelist Margaret Drabble.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/michae...

Reviews

[Phil Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, I was led on an adventure in literature, theater, and music. I highly recommend Shaw's plays. There are some high quality BBC performances with big name Brit stars. If you like British humor, these are some funny plays.

Shaw, along with Beatrice Potter and her husband, started the Fabian Society, which then started the London School of Economics. At one time, H. G. Wells was also a leading member and friend of Shaw. Socialism was a big topic of the day and Shaw and friends were at the forefront of the movement.

Shaw was often a family guest at the various famous people's homes. Although not quite the Whose Who of Oscar Wilde's acquaintances, Shaw ran with an influential crowd, especially those in the theater.

You also get insight into the adoption of some technologies, such as bicycles (Shaw kept getting injured in accidents), telephones (Shaw's job at one point was to find places to put telephone poles), and typewriters.

This is the story of a literary man who was mostly self-taught, a vegetarian and "health nut" (look up "Jagger Suit"), a music lover and talented critic, a humorist (and all-round funny and eccentric person), and a visionary. There are some things about his character that are disturbing (nothing like Wilde's), and other things that seem contradictory. For example, he was an atheist, yet encouraged a young actress who was agitated about her career and future to find a quiet church and read the Gospel of John. He had a long-running battle in the papers with G. K. Chesterton over religion and society that was always amiable and polite. He was a man of whom Oscar Wilde said, "He has no enemies, and his friends dislike him."

Clearly, this is an abridgment. It is very interesting, but you can tell large parts have been left out. Shaw was a prolific writer at an important time in Western history. It must have been a huge challenge just to stop at four volumes, let alone cut it down to one.

[Tenio Latev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must ready for anyone who is interested in how life was in England 120 years ago. Shaw was a person of high moral in a world full greed and hypocrisy. If you ever ask yourself how our world became what it is today, this book will let you understand some of the circumstances.. Stay away from it if you don't like biographies..

[Flora · Rating 4 out of 5]

After viewing Heartbreak House in NYC, I decided to learn more about the playwright. This one-volume DEFINITIVE edition is more than I expected. Page after page of exploits reveal a man of superhuman ability. I enjoyed the intimacy of the biography but found the constant switch between the author Holroyd's voice and that of GBS or Bernard Shaw, as he preferred to be called, a little off-putting. Holroyd uses Shaw own rich trove of words to tell the story. But I found it difficult at times to parse where the Shavian words ended and the author's interpretation began.
Shaw lived such a long and rich life (94 years!) that Holroyd really needed the multiple volumes to deal with it. By squeezing everything Shaw wrote including, letters and dialogue from plays, quotes from speeches and broadcasts and more, my mind reeled from the intensity and virtuosity of the man.
I enjoy most the detailed descriptions of the development of Shaw's most important plays, such as Heartbreak House. Perhaps the best way for me to understand the man is to read, as well as watch, his plays. The themes in Shaw's plays still resonate with audiences a lifetime after the works were written.

[Arriella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This biography is so extensive which is good, but its a little over done in many chapters. The transition from one thought to the next is so choppy and the connection from one relevant person to the next in Shaw's life is often confusing and the jumping in time with reference to events in the past makes it hard to keep track of important dates.
I will say however that the author does an amazing job of going extremely in depth in summary and analysis of Shaw's plays.

[Steve Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully book , almost a novel because of the way the biographer inserts himself so clearly into the writing. And with a subject like gbs its hard not to get great quotes for every part of his life. The only reason for 4 rather than 5 is that perhaps theere is a little too much of the author and his interpretation of the variety of personnas of shaw.

[Ron Van Der Reeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing life. Shaw knew Oscar Wilde,William Morris, Einstein,Elgar, Charlie Chaplin, H G Wells, James Joyce. In his 94 years he lived through 2 world wars, was there for the birth of motor cars,telephones, movies.

[Ryan O'Malley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Extremely detailed. 800 pages is probably too much. There is so much written about people he met when they don’t end up being very relevant figures in his life. Overall, not bad, but too long.

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I wrote a play on Shaw I used Holroyd as my main resource.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A model of a biography. A beautifully written life of a man by turns silly and sensible - a near genius in some respects whose plays, and letters can be read with pleasure.

[Mel Hart]

not what i had expected