100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Auckland Bookstore open Sunday until 5pm! 🎉

Byrne

3.41 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 180 ratings, 15 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Byrne is a richly original novel in verse by Anthony Burgess, completed shortly before his death. It follows Michael Byrne, an Irish Don Juan, composer, charmer, bigamist and thug, as he journeys through post-Great War London to Nazi Germany, leaving a trail of children and chaos. His mysterious disappearance sparks his twin sons to embark on a perilous quest across a troubled Europe for a final, apocalyptic reckoning.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3200
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Fans of literary fiction, verse novels, and those interested in complex, darkly comic narratives set against historical backdrops will find Byrne compelling. Readers who appreciate technical poetic mastery and character-driven stories with moral complexity will especially enjoy this work.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Michael Byrne is an Irish Don Juan - a composer, a charmer, a bigamist and a thug. He moves from country to country, from bed to bed, selling his talents and leaving a trail of children in his wake. His twin sons travel across the troubled face of Europe to pursue their father for one final apocalyptic reckoning.

Completed shortly before Burgess's death, this novel in verse is extravagantly original

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Completed shortly before Burgess's death, this novel in verse is extravagantly original.

Michael Byrne is an Irish Don Juan — a composer, a charmer, a bigamist, and a thug. He moves from country to country, from bed to bed, selling his talents and leaving a trail of children in his wake. His journey takes him from post-Great War London to the centre of Hitler's Third Reich and then he vanishes. His twin sons travel across the troubled face of Europe to pursue their father for one final apocalyptic reckoning.

Byrne is a testament to Burgess's literary prowess, capturing the complexity of human nature in a unique poetic form.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

A rumbustious and dazzling finale to Burgess’s career, Byrne has been praised for its wit, erudition and engaging, darkly comic verse. Critics acclaim Burgess’s masterful use of ottava rima and his unique ability to blend narrative verse with prose fiction, making it a fitting tribute to one of literature’s most intelligent and tireless voices.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099541424

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 02 February 2012

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 127g

Pages: 176

About the Author

Anthony Burgess was born in Manchester in 1917 and educated at Xaverian College and Manchester University. He served in the British army from 1940 to 1946 and was a schoolteacher in England before becoming a colonial education officer in 1954. His Malayan trilogy of novels and a history of English literature were published while he was living in Malaya and Brunei. He became a full-time writer in 1959 and achieved a worldwide reputation as one of the most versatile novelists of his day. His writings include biographies of Shakespeare and Hemingway, critical studies of James Joyce, stage plays, and two volumes of autobiography. His work as a composer and librettist includes the Broadway musical, Cyrano, and Blooms of Dublin, an operetta based on Joyce's Ulysses. His 33 novels continue to be published all over the world. They include A Clockwork Orange, Nothing Like the Sun, The Complete Enderby, Earthly Powers, Napoleon Symphony, and Beard's Roman Women, a collaboration with the photographer David Robinson. Anthony Burgess died in London in 1993.

Also by Anthony Burgess

View all
  • A Clockwork Orange
    In this nightmare vision of a not-too-distant future, fifteen-year-old Alex and his three friends rob, rape, torture, and murder—for fun. Alex is jailed for his vicious crimes, and the State undertakes to reform him—but how and at what cost? A Clockwork Orange presents a dystopian world teetering on the brink of moral and societal collapse, challenging the distinction between free...
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Clockwork Orange
    Fully restored edition of Anthony Burgess' original text Edited by Andrew BiswellWith a Foreword by Martin Amis Fifteen-year-old Alex likes lashings of ultraviolence. He and his gang of friends rob, kill, and rape their way through a nightmarish future, until the State puts a stop to his riotous excesses. But what will his re-education mean? A dystopian horror, a black...
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    (1)
    Backorder
    Ships mid August
  • Earthly Powers
    Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess is a sprawling and audacious epic that intricately weaves the narratives of two compelling men whose lives are a study in contrasts and convergences. The story spans much of the 20th century, delivering a vast and richly detailed tapestry of historical events, religious upheavals, and personal ambitions. At its heart is Kenneth Toomey, a renowned...
    Paperback
    $3699
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Clockwork Orange
    The daring and electrifying book that inspired one of the most notorious films ever made 'What we were after was lashings of ultraviolence' In this nightmare vision of youth in revolt, fifteen-year-old Alex and his friends set out on a diabolical orgy of robbery, rape, torture and murder. Alex is jailed for his teenage delinquency and the State tries to...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Backorder
    Ships mid August
  • The Wanting Seed
    An inventive, thought-provoking and absurd dystopian novel set in a world rampant with overpopulation by the author of A Clockwork Orange – now a Penguin Essential. The Wanting Seed tells the story of Tristram Foxe and his wife, Beatrice-Joanna, who live in their skyscraper world where official family limitation glorifies homosexuality. Eventually, their world is transformed into a chaos of...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Clockwork Orange
    A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is the shocking seminal novel that spawned one of the most notorious films ever made. Fifteen-year-old Alex and his thrill-seeking gang regularly indulge in ultra-violence, rape, and drugs. However, when he is caught and brainwashed by a government psychologist, Alex finds his new law-abiding life unbearable. Set in a terrifying dystopian future, A Clockwork...
    Paperback
    $1599
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • 1985
    In characteristically daring style, Anthony Burgess combines two responses to Orwell's 1984 in one book. The first is a sharp analysis: through dialogues, parodies, and essays, Burgess sheds new light on what he called 'an apocalyptic codex of our worst fears', creating a critique that is literature in its own right. Part two is Burgess' own dystopic vision, written in...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Little Wilson and Big God
    Little Wilson and Big God, the first part of Anthony Burgess's two-volume autobiography, tells the story of a disaffected Manchester Catholic from his birth in 1917 up to the commencement, in 1959, of his career as a professional writer. Born Jack Wilson, the son of Catholic Irish and Lancashire parents, Burgess grew up in one of the toughest areas of...
    Paperback
    $2999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • You've Had Your Time
    Taking up where Little Wilson and Big God left off, You've Had Your Time is the second volume of Anthony Burgess's autobiography. It begins in 1959, with the author's return from Brunei, and the start of a long and prolific writing career, and ends, somewhat arbitrarily, in 1982, with the centenary celebrations of the birth of James Joyce, which prompt...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Dead Man in Deptford
    Murder mystery based on the infamous life and death of Christopher Marlowe. 'One of the most productive, imaginative and risk-taking of writers... It is a clever, sexually explicit, fast-moving, full-blooded yarn' Irish Times A Dead Man in Deptford re-imagines the riotous life and suspicious death of Christopher Marlowe. Poet, lover and spy, Marlowe must negotiate the pressures placed upon him...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Land
    Inspired by the mapping of Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, Land, the new novel from the author of Hamnet, is at once intimate and epic: a portrait of a family navigating a legacy of upheaval and loss with love and hope. On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set
    The Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set by Brandon Sanderson is a landmark fantasy series that has captivated readers worldwide. Renowned for its innovative magic system, intricate world-building, and compelling characters, this trilogy is a must-have for any fantasy enthusiast. Immerse yourself in a world shrouded in ash, where a once-hopeful land is ruled by the tyrannical Dark Lord, known as the...
    Set
    $6800
    Elsewhere:
    $7500
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Deal
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Deal now for the perfect fake-dating romance! She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy . . . Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Signed Bookplate
    New Release
    Light Wielder
    THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO METAL SLINGER, AKA THE BOOK WITH THE PLOT TWIST THAT BROKE THE INTERNET Sail the seas. Master the blade. Protect your heart. What would you do to have it all? READERS ARE GOING WILD FOR *METAL SLINGER* ‘The BEST plot twist to ever grace my Kindle’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The author is a mastermind. Romantasy is back!!!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Project Hail Mary
    THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL A BARACK OBAMA READING PICK A lone astronaut. An impossible mission. An ally he never imagined. 'The most enjoyable hard SF I have read in years' GUARDIAN 'Weir's finest work to date... This is the one book I read last year that I am certain I can recommend to anyone, no matter who, and know...
    Paperback
    $2099
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Bookshop Detectives 3: Murder and Mojitos
    Art Deco glamour, a Cuban crime queen and a grammar-obsessed killer collide in the #1 best-selling Bookshop Detectives’ high-stakes final instalment. The Bookshop Detectives are on the case! Booksellers Garth and Eloise Sherlock (and their cowardly dog, Stevie) have been roped into hosting Murder and Mojitos, a glamorous Art Deco festival event starring Cuba’s queen of crime fiction. Between flapper...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.