Promotional Information

A new book from internationally celebrated author Martin Amis.

About the Author

Martin Amis was twenty-three when he wrote his first novel, The Rachel Papers (1973). Over the next half century - in fourteen more novels, two collections of short stories, eight works of literary criticism and reportage, and his acclaimed memoir, Experience - he established himself as the most distinctive and influential prose stylist of his generation. To many of his readers, Amis was also the funniest. His intoxicating comedic gifts express a profound understanding of the human experience, particularly its most shocking cruelties, and Amis wrote with pathos and verve on an astonishing range of subjects, from masculinity and movie violence to nuclear weapons and Nazi doctors. His books, which have been translated into thirty-eight languages, provide an indelible portrait and critique of late-capitalist society at the turn of the twenty-first century. He died in 2023.

Reviews

This collection reminds us of Amis's distinction and originality as a stylist
*Times Literary Supplement*

Amis can out-sentence practically anyone. The firecracker returns of phrase are not just audacious, they're also accurate... Like Nabokov, Amis makes writing seem fun, serious fun
*Guardian*

Amis is as talented a journalist as he is a novelist, but these essays all manifest an unusual extra quality, one that is not unlike friendship. He makes an effort; he makes readers feel that they are the only person there
*The Times*

A superb journalist... It is Amis's jaunty, appalled and always avid watchfulness that makes in this collection true and truly enjoayable... Visiting Mrs Nabokov is a suitcase full of treats
*Irish Times*

Above average for its genre, this assortment of essays from the best-selling English author ( Time's Arrow , LJ 8/91, among others) breaks roughly into three groups: literary (generally British, including the title piece and pieces on Graham Greene, Rushdie, Larkin, Burgess, etc.); filmic, including RoboCop II , Cannes (in a note, Amis wonders why toplessness concerned him so, which others wondered at the time), Polanski, etc.; pop culture, including John Lennon, the Rolling Stones (Jagger is a ``vitamin-packed unit''), Madonna, games (Kasparov/Karpov, darts, and an odd poker game sponsored by GQ for Amis to cover, with A. Alvarez, David Mamet, and others). Other occasional pieces appear as well (e.g., regarding the 1988 Republican Convention), but Amis's keen insights and keener prose keep them from seeming stale or dated. Recommended for libraries where collected pieces find a readership.-- Robert E. Brown, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.

This collection reminds us of Amis's distinction and originality as a stylist -- James Wood * Times Literary Supplement *
Amis can out-sentence practically anyone. The firecracker returns of phrase are not just audacious, they're also accurate... Like Nabokov, Amis makes writing seem fun, serious fun -- Geoff Dyer * Guardian *
Amis is as talented a journalist as he is a novelist, but these essays all manifest an unusual extra quality, one that is not unlike friendship. He makes an effort; he makes readers feel that they are the only person there -- Rachel Cusk * The Times *
A superb journalist... It is Amis's jaunty, appalled and always avid watchfulness that makes in this collection true and truly enjoayable... Visiting Mrs Nabokov is a suitcase full of treats -- John Banville * Irish Times *