A Bottle in the Smoke [Mass Market Paperback]

A. N. Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

Julian embarks on a career as an aspiring actor and novelist, supporting himself as a bartender in a seedy pub frequented by other bohemians in London of the 1950s. Through an old school friend, Julian meets Anne and they fall in love. However, things do not go smoothly.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this ever-darkening comedy of manners, narrator Julian Ramsey recalls how, as a naive, egotistical youth, he left his first job to become a writer and/or actor, married socialite Anne Lampitt and published a novel through the influence of a sinister womanizer. According to PW , Julian's misguided adventures are "witty, poignant, luminously intelligent."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This second novel in a proposed trilogy that began with Incline Our Hearts ( LJ 12/88) continues the life story of Julian Ramsey, a 20th-century David Copperfield who is surrounded by a Dickensian gallery of characters. Having survived his years in boarding schools and military service in the first book, Julian now faces the experiences of working in a pub, falling in love, and writing a novel. Characters from the first book play major roles in this one; it's best to read Incline Our Hearts first to appreciate fully the actions of Julian's relatives and friends. A prolific novelist and a prize-winning biographer ( Tolstoy, LJ 8/88), Wilson is one of England's most versatile contemporary writers. Highly recommended.
- Dean Willms, Fort Collins P.L., Col.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140131655
• ISBN-13: 978-0140131659
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,960,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good sequel to "Incline Our Hearts", November 28, 2010

By 

Kim Boykin (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Bottle in the Smoke (Paperback)

This is the second of five novels in the Lampitt series: (1) Incline Our Hearts, (2) A Bottle in the Smoke, (3) Daughters of Albion, (4) Hearing Voices, and (5) A Watch in the Night. The first book is about the childhood and adolescence of Julian Ramsay, growing up in England in the mid-twentieth century with his uncle and aunt in a small-town vicarage and then at boarding school. In this second installment, Julian works in a pub, gets married, and publishes a novel. In all the books, Julian's life is entangled in strange ways with the lives of various members of the Lampitt family, including author James "Jimbo" Lampitt, and Jimbo's biographer. What I'm especially enjoying about these novels so far is Wilson's observations about growing up and adulthood.

I recently discovered A. N. Wilson's novels, and I wish he'd written more of them. (He's written lots of nonfiction, including biographies of Tolstoy and C. S. Lewis.) I also highly recommend Wilson's The Vicar of Sorrows.