Brian Howard was expected to become one of the leading authors of his generation, but instead he became a secondary character in the books of others. Marie-Jaqueline Lancaster’s biography makes him — at last — the protagonist of his own highly entertaining story. Packed with dishy reminiscences and extracts from Howard’s letters and writings, this book details the outrageous parties, stunts, and confrontations that were second-nature to this ne'er-do-well. Chronicling 30 years of waste and dereliction, Lancaster captures a prototypical gay literary life, perfect for anyone curious about gay history, the 1920s, modernism, or the mystery of failed artistic promise. From austere libraries in Oxford to seedy hotels in Amsterdam to darkened cinemas in Tangiers, Howard lived and died precociously and — most importantly — as he pleased. Brian Howard: Portrait of a Failure is the next best thing to an invitation to one of his famous parties.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Perfect Portrait,
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This review is from: Brian Howard: Portrait of a Failure (Paperback)
If you are, as I am, fascinated with the "Bright Young People" who made headlines and gossip columns in Britain during the 20's, then this book is tailor-made (or 'bespoke' as they say in England.) It might be a little long, but if you are not bent on reading it quickly, then it's just right. Full of letters and photos, this biography of a man who hadn't a chance, given the circumstances, is riveting. I do not think, in the long run, that he was a failure. I think he did his best, which -- unfortunately -- was not good enough in the long run.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Failure has its successes",
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This review is from: Brian Howard: Portrait of a Failure (Paperback)
Ms. Marie-Jaqueline Lancaster (What an oddly spelt and hyphenated name.) who met Brian Howard as a girl during the London Blitz and, like so many portrayed herein, was both charmed and fascinated by him, has her tongue firmly ensconced-in-cheek in subtitling this very readable, extremely well-documented, delight of a biography, which she calls a "three year (1964-1967) labour of love" in the Acknowledgements a "Portrait of a Failure". What she intends is that this is how the world saw him. Reading about Howard's exploits in this sparkling tribute to him, he comes across throughout as a character with considerable éclat and sensibility, and though his life is more than a bit of a shambles towards the end of it, he seems to have died happily.Of course, he didn't produce the great opus everyone, for whatever reason, expected of him and that he - to a certain extent that's hard to judge - expected, in a rather desultory way, of himself, but he lived a fuller life - an aesthetic one, devoted to literature, which Proust maintains - in a poignant passage amongst so many other poignant passages of his - is the only REAL life to be lived - than most who pass their life, as Thoreau famously put it, in "quiet desperation". He rather reminds one of Shelley's - a poet he read much and admired - poem "The Sensitive Plant" though perhaps with sharp petals: His wit could cut and hurt. In the end, one feels more appreciative of the fact that such a person existed for a time on this planet. Further, how can one call someone who writes a poem such as the following a failure?: THE DUST No soap can wash away this sundust And no scrubbing, this salt dust of the sea. What is this powder with which you are covered When the sun lies on your skin, slantingly? Something like pollen, yet finer, lighter And more of a mineral thing. It glows A St. Elmo's fire, a quicksilver wire Which grows with the sun and with the sun goes. Is it the true state of being clean? It smells like an approaching island, or a shipload of hay. Made of seadust, sunsalt and flesh, is it the true sign Of being well and whole? It cannot be washed away All I know is, this thing is not a substance Found on the ill or ugly, or on those Whose favourite word is `No'. It is very often Worn by the beautiful instead of clothes. All I know is, the desperate have washed you Using their holy water, for two thousand years And still the dust I speak of burns upon you As bright as Love. Brighter than all their tears. As Howard said in a letter to his mother, "Failure has its successes, you know."
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
'I was born at W'inkworth, Hascombe, Surrey in 1905 and have been brought up in England as an Englishman, although by blood I am an American, my father coming from Washington D.C. and my mother from Louisville, Kentucky. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
private diary extracts, very special voice Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Brian Howard, Harold Acton, Robert Byron, Edith Sitwell, Lura Howard, Eton Candle, Nancy Cunard, John Banting, New Statesman, Cyril Connolly, William Acton, Bright Young People, Bryan Guinness, Evelyn Waugh, Klaus Mann, Norman Douglas, Allanah Harper, Clive Bell, Guy Burgess, New York, Christ Church, Erika Mann, Stephen Spender, Tom Driberg, Air Ministry New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
'I was born at W'inkworth, Hascombe, Surrey in 1905 and have been brought up in England as an Englishman, although by blood I am an American, my father coming from Washington D.C. and my mother from Louisville, Kentucky. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
private diary extracts, very special voice Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Brian Howard, Harold Acton, Robert Byron, Edith Sitwell, Lura Howard, Eton Candle, Nancy Cunard, John Banting, New Statesman, Cyril Connolly, William Acton, Bright Young People, Bryan Guinness, Evelyn Waugh, Klaus Mann, Norman Douglas, Allanah Harper, Clive Bell, Guy Burgess, New York, Christ Church, Erika Mann, Stephen Spender, Tom Driberg, Air Ministry New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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