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Little Wilson and Big God

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( 352 ratings, 30 reviews)
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Little Wilson and Big God is the first volume of Anthony Burgess's autobiography, chronicling his life from his 1917 birth in Manchester to the start of his professional writing career in 1959. It reveals the struggles of a young Catholic from a challenging background, grappling with faith, artistic ambition, and personal turmoil. Through vivid anecdotes, Burgess covers his fraught first marriage, a humorous army stint, and his work as an education officer in Malaya and Borneo, culminating in his initial steps as a novelist.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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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?

This memoir will appeal to readers interested in literary biographies, especially those fascinated by mid-20th-century British writers and complex personal histories. Fans of Burgess's novels will appreciate the insight into his formative years.

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Little Wilson and Big God

These are Anthony Burgess's candid confessions: he was seduced at the age of nine by an older woman; Little Wilson and Big God moves from Moss Side to Malaya recalling Burgess's time as an education officer in the tropics, his tempestuous first marriage, his struggles with Catholicism and the beginning of his prolific writing life.

A high spirited candid book of confessions from the twentieth century literary giant Anthony Burgess

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

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 Manchester, with a burgeoning awareness of an artistic talent which for a long time could not find its proper outlet. It deals also with an unending struggle to reconcile a Catholic conscience with the prematurely discovered pleasures of sex.

It details his tempestuous first marriage, an army career more comic than heroic, and his years as an education officer in Malaya and Borneo. It was in the Far East, at the age of thirty-seven, his marriage in trouble, drinking heavily, that Burgess began to write the first of the novels that were to make his name.

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?

Sebastian Faulks praises the book as "packed, provocative and masterly." The LA Times notes its "terrific pace and vivacity," likening it to Burgess's finest novels and calling it the tale of a modern 'Unlucky Jim.'

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099437055

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 October 2002

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 334g

Pages: 480

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.

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