Protobiography

by William Boyd

William Boyd has been writing well-loved, prize-winning fiction since Penguin published A Good Man in Africa in 1981. His fiction is often a revealing excavation of an individual life and in Protobiography, Boyd turns to his own biography for inspiration, exploring his childhood in West Africa and his schooling in Scotland.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Short Stories, Africa

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Note: William^^Boyd

Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.

At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland and then Nice University (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow University (MA Hons in English and Philosophy), where he edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He then moved to Jesus College, Oxford in 1975 and completed a PhD thesis on Shelley. For a brief period he worked at the New Statesman magazine as a TV critic, then he returned to Oxford as an English lecturer teaching the contemporary novel at St Hilda's College (1980-83). It was while he was here that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published.

Boyd spent eight years in academia, during which time his first film, Good and Bad at Games, was made. When he was offered a college lecturership, which would mean spending more time teaching, he was forced to choose between teaching and writing.

Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the same year, and is also an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling and Glasgow. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005.

Boyd has been with his wife Susan since they met as students at Glasgow University and all his books are dedicated to her. His wife is editor-at-large of Harper's Bazaar magazine, and they currently spend about thirty to forty days a year in the US. He and his wife have a house in Chelsea, West London but spend most of the year at their chateau in Bergerac in south west France, where Boyd produces award-winning wines.

Reviews

[Eretrece · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because it looked cool and young but also sophisticated. I mostly read it a few paragraphs at a time while sitting on the toilet, which it was absolutely fine for, though I don't think I'll be going out of my way to read any of Boyd's other works.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

55 pages of reminiscences of boyhood in ex-pat west africa (ghana and nigeria) and boarding school in scotland (the same one prince charles attended?). well noted, reasonable, gently humourous without any great perception - as i have found his fiction that i have read. an interesting point after affectionate description of several locations and people in west africa was that he never went back for a visit after 1973 - intriguing.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slender volume wherein Boyd discusses his colonial childhood in Africa, through the planes that took him back to Britain for holidays, and partly through the insects populating his housing alongside him; and two pieces about his experience of public school life in Scotland. Very readable, if not exactly essential, for the browser making a chance encounter, however for someone who wants to know about Boyd a vital purchase, for he says there'll never be anything more like a memoir than this.

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember enjoying William Boyd's short stories in the Penguin 60s very much; here he presents a completely different kind of writing. In four essays he writes about his childhood. The first and the fourth describe elements of his time in Africa: he was born in Ghana where his father was a doctor; later the family lived in Nigeria. The middle two describe his years at Scottish boarding houses. His sharp observation and direct, frank analysis of his experiences ensure a worthwhile read.

In vier essays skryf William Boyd oor sy kinderjare: deels in Afrikalande (sy pa was 'n dokter in Ghana en Nigerië), deels in Skotse kosskole. Sy fyn waarneming en eerlike analise van sy ervaring verseker dat dit 'n aangename kennismaking is met die lewe van 'n skoolseun in die derde kwart van die twintigste eeu.

[Mary Arkless]

A charming little book about the author's life in boarding school in Scotland, and his childhood in Africa. I especially enjoyed the last story, Memories of the Sausage Fly.

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and entertaining. I loved the mood the author captured. Would read again.

[Aletta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bijna sociologische verhandelingen over jeugd in afrika of schotland dan verhalen. Anders dan verwacht.

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short collection of autobiographical writings from William Boyd.