Amazon.com Review
In the absence of a definitive biography of Christopher Isherwood, this rich resource of personal reminiscence and considered critical reflection is the next best thing. It may even become one of the essential books for students of English literature and culture in the 20th century, as well as for those drawn to the rowdy and fertile expatriate communities around Hollywood during and after World War II. Concentrating on Isherwood's life in Southern California, where he settled in 1939, here are essays by younger friends and students, among them the photographer Stathis Orphanos and the writers Carolyn Heilbrun and James P. White; an interview with Isherwood's companion, the artist Don Bachardy; and excerpts from his dairies. Critical essays from Edmund White and others range from discussions of the "long road of understanding" that Isherwood began with
Prater Violet (1945) and his explorations of Vedanta to his collaborations with his friend W.H. Auden and the drawings Bachardy made of Isherwood as he lay dying in the winter of 1985-86. The contributions to this book are thoughtful, somewhat modest, and unfailingly entertaining. It is a fitting homage to a writer who devoted many years to trying to curb his ego, the better to see reality behind appearances and the better to write it down.
--Regina Marler
From Publishers Weekly
Filled with passionate tributes, this reader-friendly volume offers a sturdy collection of wonderful writings. In four sections--"Meeting Isherwood," "Artist and Companion," "The Writer in Context" and "Finding a Path"--friends, acquaintances, biographers and critics of the late Isherwood (whom, the editors maintain, stands as "the pivotal figure of his generation") cast keen light on the man and his work. Essayists cover the writer's influence and unstable place in English and American literature, his spiritual beliefs (especially the influence of Vedanta, a branch of Hinduism based on the ancient teachings of the Vedas, on his life and work) and his personal life. Michael S. Harper contributes a memoir in the form of a poem; feminist scholar Carolyn G. Heilbrun weighs in with an unlikely essay; and there are moving and humorous excerpts from the diary of Don Bachardy, Isherwood's longtime lover, an interview with the writer himself and a handful of critical essays informed by gender theory and gay/lesbian scholarship. However, as a whole, the book does not effectively counter the view that Isherwood was "both remote and obscure" (as the editors say he felt himself to be in 1941). There's no question that Isherwood influenced a number of subsequent writers, particularly gay men searching for the means to make their voices heard; but the claim that he was central to the development of literature in the 20th century--this excellent collection of writings on his life notwithstanding--remains unconvincing. B&w illustrations. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
