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A Single Man

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( 36,877 ratings, 3,548 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
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood is a poignant exploration of a day in the life of George, a gay English professor in 1960s California, dealing with the recent loss of his partner. The novel captures George's routine and inner reflections, portraying his interactions with students, neighbours, and friends while he navigates the complexity of loss and identity. Through its powerful narrative, the book offers a profound insight into the human condition, highlighting themes such as grief and connection.
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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 book may appeal to you if you appreciate rich character studies and elegant prose set against the backdrop of early 1960s California. It delves into the intricacies of grief, identity, and the human experience, offering a poignant exploration of a day in the life of an English professor coping with loss. You'll be drawn into the introspective and reflective journey it offers, full of emotional depth and realism.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

In this brilliantly perceptive novel, a middle aged professor living in California, is alienated from his students by differences in age and nationality ,and from the rest of society by his homosexuality. Isherwood explores the depths of the human soul and its ability to triumph over loneliness, alienation and loss.

A Single Man is an exclusive Vintage Classic that has been made into a film starring Julianne Moore and Colin Firth and directed by Tom Ford.

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

A Single Man is an exclusive Vintage Classic that has been made into a film starring Julianne Moore and Colin Firth and directed by Tom Ford.

In this brilliantly perceptive novel, a middle-aged professor living in California is alienated from his students by differences in age and nationality, and from the rest of society by his homosexuality. Isherwood explores the depths of the human soul and its ability to triumph over loneliness, alienation, and loss.

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 Single Man by Christopher Isherwood is considered his key postwar work, notably ahead of its time for its portrayal of everyday homosexual life, influencing gay writers in both Britain and the US. Reviewers praise Isherwood's blend of humour and stoicism in the face of grief, as well as his personal writing style that conveys intimacy and honesty. His work, often described as witty, observant, and nostalgic, showcases his literary talents, and the book is frequently regarded as a masterpiece in modern literature. The narrative's ability to balance sadness with moments of wild humour is also highlighted.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099548829

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 February 2010

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Edition: Media tie-in

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 9.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 117g

Pages: 160

About the Author

Christopher Isherwood was born in 1904. He began to write at university and later moved to Berlin, where he gave English lessons to support himself. He witnessed first hand the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany and some of his best works, such as Mr. Norris Changes Trains and Goodbye to Berlin, draw on these experiences. He created the character of Sally Bowles, later made famous as the heroine of the musical Cabaret. Isherwood travelled with W.H Auden to China in the late 1930s before going with him to America in 1939. He died on 4 January 1986.

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