Terence Rattigan: A Biography [Hardcover]

Geoffrey Wansell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1997

Geoffrey Wansell is the first writer to have been given full access to thousands of Terence Rattigan's private papers and to have talked at length to Rattigan's friends. From the heady days of his early success to the darker days of his decline in popularity, Wansell paints a captivating portrait of one of the century's greatest theatrical lights.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At the time of his death in 1977, Terence Rattigan was barely remembered by the theater-going public, yet 30 years earlier he was considered one of Britain's most important playwrights. Geoffrey Wansell's Terence Rattigan is the first critical evaluation of the author since his death and, as such, is a major contribution to theater history. More importantly, because Rattigan and most of his contemporaries are dead, Wansell is able to discuss freely their personal and sexual lives. Carefully documented and elegantly written, this biography adds immeasurably to our understanding of British gay male life and the evolution of a gay artistic sensibility.

From Library Journal

Making use of extensive interviews and archival material not available to previous biographers, Wansell provides the most thorough record yet of the life of playwright Sir Terence Rattigan (1911-77). Ultimately sympathetic toward and appreciative of his subject, Wansell (Haunted Idol: The Story of the Real Cary Grant, Morrow, 1992) shows a man divided between his drive for commercial success and his desire to be a serious literary dramatist. Though highly regarded for their craftsmanship, Rattigan's plays were often considered superficial and unadventurous, particularly after the arrival of Britain's "angry young men." The compromises brought about by his lifelong attempt to hide his homosexuality are explored also. In recent years, several of Rattigan's plays have been brought back into print, and Mike Figgis filmed an adaptation of The Browning Version. Although its few attempts at literary analysis are weak, Wansell's biography may assist in the revival. Recommended for collections of modern English literature, theater, and gay studies at the undergraduate level and above.?Robert W. Melton, Univ. of Kansas Lib., Lawrence
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 450 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st. ed edition (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312165218
• ISBN-13: 978-0312165215
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,024,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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