Mortification: Writers' Stories Of Their Public Shame

Author: Robin Robertson (ed)

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $26.00 NZD
  • : 9780007171385
  • : HarperCollins Publishers Australia
  • : HarperPerennial
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  • : April 2004
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 25.99
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  • : books

Special Fields

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  • : Robin Robertson (ed)
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  • : Paperback
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  • : English
  • : 828.0308035309045
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  • : 289
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Barcode 9780007171385
9780007171385

Description

A collection of stories from some of the world's greatest writers about their own public humiliation. Humiliation is not, of course, unique to writers. However, the world of letters does seem to offer a near-perfect micro-climate for embarrassment and shame. There is something about the conjunction of high-mindedness and low income that is inherently comic; something about the very idea of deeply private thoughts - carefully worked and honed into art over the years - being presented to a public audience of dubious strangers, that strays perilously close to tragedy. Here, in over 80 contributions, are stories about the writer's audience, the fellow readers, the organiser, the venue, the 'hospitality', or the often-interminable journey there and back. Then there are the experiences of teaching and being taught, reviewing and being reviewed, of festivals and writers' retreats, symposia, signing sessions, literary parties and prizes, the trips abroad, with all the attendant joys of translation and, finally, the bright worlds of television and radio that can bring so many more people to share in your shame. These are the best stories: Those told against the teller. And for the reader, apart from the sheer Schadenfreude of it all, there is admiration too: for that acknowledgement of human frailty, of punctured pride, but also of the seeming absurdity of trying to bring private art into public space. Contributions come from Simon Armitage, Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Louis de Bernieres, Margaret Drabble, Roddy Doyle, Kazuo Ishiguro, A.L. Kennedy, John Lanchester, Patrick McCabe, Norman Mailer, Rick Moody, Andrew Motion, Andrew O'Hagan, Colm Toibin, Irvine Welsh, James Wood and many others. Reviews: "Entertaining reading. This is a jolly romp and will make a good stocking-filler for any authors of your acquaintance." - Sunday Times

Author description

Robin Robertson is an editor and an award-winning poet. He lives in London.