Customer Reviews

Beard's Roman Women: A novel

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This book is a partially autobiographical sketch of Anthony's experience as a widower, featuring his quirky and unbalancing sense of humor. Some may find parts a little too disturbing, but if you like his writing its worth the read.

"Burgessian" Rome. Like the locations of many of his novels, Rome here takes on a texture that can only exist in Burgess. The plot concerns Mr. John Beard, a hack writer having a hell of a time (so to speak) in the Eternal City. Full of Nabokovian autoparody (a "better" writer visits Mr. Beard and pounds away at some of Burgess's own aesthetics) and some fairly relentless lascivity, "Beard's Roman Women" will be appreciated most by the Burgess-fanatics

Everything about this novel is superficial, and intentionally so. Ronald, the main character, speaks of his own utterances in Dante-esque terms.

Ronald closes the end of the novel speaking to Greg Greg. He says "TAXI, Stop you basturd. Christ, he has."

This novel is a summation of 1970's angst mired in the elusive and somewhat unrequired escapism so purported to be overly important in American culture.

Ronald wants so much from life that he is halted. He can't process the simple cold hard fact that life has brought him a cold hard unfeeling existence. He calls for a taxi (a vehicle to take him away) and he is in awe.

Ronald remains in denial and close to death at the novel's end.