What do you think?
Rate this book
Martin Amis
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to Martin Amis's life, work and the wide range of critical responses to his work. Perhaps the best-known British novelist of his generation, he had to compete with his father, Kingsley Amis (1922-95) who was himself a leading novelist of his generation. In reacting to his father he adopted a self-conscious, ludic mode of fiction and cultivated a unique and much imitated style.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 situates his life in the context of the literary climate and social, political and cultural gestalt of his lifetime. It constitutes the most extensive biographical narrative to appear by the date of publication. Part 2 provides a critical introduction to the eleven novels, two collections of short stories, two autobiographical works, and three collections of essays, reviews, profiles, and articles that he had published so far. Part 3 offers a more advanced examination of the major critical debates about the nature and value of his work. They range from his turn to American fiction for models, his portrayal of women (including charges of misogyny), and his unusual views on linguistic language ("Style is morality," he wrote).
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 situates his life in the context of the literary climate and social, political and cultural gestalt of his lifetime. It constitutes the most extensive biographical narrative to appear by the date of publication. Part 2 provides a critical introduction to the eleven novels, two collections of short stories, two autobiographical works, and three collections of essays, reviews, profiles, and articles that he had published so far. Part 3 offers a more advanced examination of the major critical debates about the nature and value of his work. They range from his turn to American fiction for models, his portrayal of women (including charges of misogyny), and his unusual views on linguistic language ("Style is morality," he wrote).
190 pages, Hardcover
First published May 22, 2008
15 people want to read
About the author
Brian Finney
21 books8 followersBrian Finney is a prize-winning writer and professor emeritus in English literature. Born in London, he obtained a BA (hons) in English and Philosophy at Reading University and a PhD on D. H. Lawrence’s shorter fiction at University of London, where he taught literature and arranged extra-mural courses in the arts from 1964 to 1987. After immigrating to Southern California he taught at UC Riverside, UCLA, the University of Southern California ad California State University Long Beach.
He has published eight books. His second book, Christopher Isherwood: A Critical Biography, was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for non-fiction that year. It was also voted one of the best three books of the year by Philip Toynbee in the Observer. He went on to publish, among others, The Inner I, a pioneering study of British literary autobiography, and a widely cited book about British fiction in the eighties and nineties, English Fiction Since 1984. In 2011 he published on Amazon Terrorized: How the War on Terror Affected American Culture and Society. He has also edited three editions of D. H. Lawrence’s work, and published a range of essays and reviews in various journals and newspapers.
In August 2019 he published his first novel, Money Matters, in which an inexperienced young woman is persuaded to search for a woman who has disappeared and comes up against the powerful forces of big money, politics and a drug cartel. By the end of her search she has become a different person. This book is a Finalist in the 2019 Best American Fiction Awards. His second novel, Dangerous Conjectures, set in the Bay Area in the opening months of 2020 when the pandemic was spreading,, was published in 2021. His third novel, Only the Rich, is forthcoming in 2023.
Brian Finney is married and lives in Venice, California.
He has published eight books. His second book, Christopher Isherwood: A Critical Biography, was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for non-fiction that year. It was also voted one of the best three books of the year by Philip Toynbee in the Observer. He went on to publish, among others, The Inner I, a pioneering study of British literary autobiography, and a widely cited book about British fiction in the eighties and nineties, English Fiction Since 1984. In 2011 he published on Amazon Terrorized: How the War on Terror Affected American Culture and Society. He has also edited three editions of D. H. Lawrence’s work, and published a range of essays and reviews in various journals and newspapers.
In August 2019 he published his first novel, Money Matters, in which an inexperienced young woman is persuaded to search for a woman who has disappeared and comes up against the powerful forces of big money, politics and a drug cartel. By the end of her search she has become a different person. This book is a Finalist in the 2019 Best American Fiction Awards. His second novel, Dangerous Conjectures, set in the Bay Area in the opening months of 2020 when the pandemic was spreading,, was published in 2021. His third novel, Only the Rich, is forthcoming in 2023.
Brian Finney is married and lives in Venice, California.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.