Even As We Speak: New Essays 1993 - 2000 [Paperback]

Clive James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002 | ISBN-10: 0330481762 | ISBN-13: 978-0330481762

Effervescent, energetic and eclectic. this is one of the late Twentieth Century's finest minds (and bellies) on show. Even As We Speak is an illuminating and hilarious collection of essays by one o' Picador's most beloved authors. He focusses on Australian poetry on television today: on the rise and fall of various icons: on the question of the culpability of the ordinary German in the holocaust; and there is a compellingly provocative and much-talked about piece on the death of Diana. James has the largest backlist of any Picador author and his sales have been well over a million.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clive James was educated at Sydney University and at Cambridge, where he was president of Footlights. In addition to his bestseller Unreliable Memoirs and his novel Brilliant Creatures he has published four mock-epic poems, three books of literary criticism, a book of verse letters and a verse diary. Between 1972 nad 1982 he was television critic for the Observer. Among his regular television programs have been 'Clive James on Television', 'The Late Clive James Show'. 'The Clives James Interview', 'The Talk Show' and many others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Picador (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330481762
• ISBN-13: 978-0330481762
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,019,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars He Speaks Too Much, June 30, 2003

By 

Andrew Desmond (Neutral Bay, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Even As We Speak: New Essays 1993 - 2000 (Paperback)

This book of essays by James was disappointing. Compared to his earlier autobiographical works such as "Unreliable Memoirs" it is tedious and inclined to wallow in self importance.

Many of the book's articles were taken from New Yorker magazine and, perhaps it goes without saying, that they are long and rambling. To spend half an hour reading some dreary set of opinions on an esoteric film director is not fun. I often found myself flicking through the pages to the next article in the hope that it would be more enticing.

However, two sections were genuinely interesting. His articles on Princess Diana are adulatory in the extreme but quite readable. Unfortunately, I cannot lose my view that she was granted importance well beyond her abilities. Also, his final section on the Sydney Olympics show real insight to the events of September 2000. To have been in Sydney at that time was to witness something quite magical and James does succeed in passing some of the magic to the reader.

Overall, I cannot recommend this book to the reader. Two sections of interest fail to overcome the remainder of the book and its tediousness.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clive's reaction to Di's death is a high-camp masterpiece, September 14, 2004

By 

Gooch McCracken (c/o your haunted slab of Velveeta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Even As We Speak: New Essays 1993 - 2000 (Paperback)

Andrew Desmond said: "His articles on Princess Diana are adulatory in the extreme but quite readable. I cannot loose my view that she was granted an importance well beyond her abilities."

Well, maybe because her importance complemented Clive's self-importance so conveniently. Di's death gave Clive the chance to brag about his dinner dates with her. Seriously. I swear I'm not making this up. But more importantly, check out his obituary's opening lines: "No. It was the first word of that cataclysmic Sunday morning: 'no' pronounced through an ascending sob, the consonant left behind in the chest voice as the vowel climbed into the head voice, the pure wail of lament whereby anyone, no matter how tone deaf, for one terrible moment becomes a singer." Oh the humanity!