Dimensions
153 x 233 x 36mm
Edited by Eve Claxton.
'The three essentials for an autobiography are that its compiler shall have an eccentric father, a miserable childhood and a hell of a time at his public school, and I enjoyed none of these advantages.' PG Wodehouse.
The Book of Life is an intensely captivating, diverse collection of the best-written memoir and autobiography throughout history. Organised into four parts - Beginnings, Youth, The Middle and Towards the End - it takes us a thought-provoking and often thrilling journey through life from start to end. Good-sized extracts from some of the world's most extraordinary personalities give an unparalleled insight into humanity through the ages and across continents.
From Charlie Chaplin's dandily dressed walks through Victorian London to Alan Bennet's wartime childhood in Yorkshire; through the day Muhammed Ali discovered boxing to the time Gandhi experimented with cigarettes; from Primo Levi's capture by Fascist Militia at 21 to Katherine Hepburn's first film job at the same age; then onto Nabokov on becoming a late father, Darwin on his lifelong love - his work - and Nelson Mandela on being released from prison at 71; life and living in all its manifold glories is represented. Through contrast and exquisite, frequently funny writing, The Book Of Life forms an unparalled anthology within a highly popular genre.
A uniquely enjoyable immersion in some of the world's best, and most personal, writing.
