In the Tradition of Waugh

Lawrence Osborne (b. 1958) is a British novelist and travel writer who is frequently compared to Waugh by his reviewers. The latest example is a review in the Irish ExaminerĀ of Osborne’s thirdĀ novel, The Ballad of a Small Player, on the occasion of its appearance in paperback. The reviewer, Tony Clayton-Lea, writes that

Osborne shares with Waugh, in particular, a strain of stylised writing that is equal parts clever-clever, pretentious, and informed with a certain kind of wisdomā€¦And yet there are times when heā€™s less Evelyn Waugh and more AA Gill.

There are those who think Gill’s writing, especially the ironic humor, also has a certain WavianĀ aura about it.Ā Reviewers in the New York Times and the Literary Review of Osborne’sĀ previous novel, The Forgiven,Ā madeĀ a similar comparison. A fourth novel, Hunters in the Dark, is scheduled for U.S. publication early next year. It will be interesting to see whether the tradition continues.

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