Tag Archives: Muriel Spark

The Art (and Power) of the Book Blurb

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

In the current issue of the TLS, DJ Taylor addresses in the “Freelance” column “blurb-writing” for book covers and promotional materials. He begins with a discussion of the various considerations brought to bear in composing a successful blurb. These are … Continue reading →

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BBC Airs Muriel Spark Film

Posted on June 25, 2018 by Jeffrey Manley

BBC2 last week broadcast a one hour documentary on the life and works of novelist Muriel Spark: The Many Primes of Muriel Spark. This was originally transmitted in January on BBC Scotland to mark Spark’s centenary. The program was presented … Continue reading →

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From African Kleptocracy to Spark’s Legacy

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Jeffrey Manley

A feature length article in the Australian edition of the Spectator deals with the political flap over policy toward immigration of white South African farrmers into Australia. This is entitled “Kleptocracy on the Cape” by Thomas Jones and opens with … Continue reading →

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Céline, Muriel Spark and Lloyd Cole

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Jeffrey Manley

Frederic Raphael is still best known for the TV adaptation of his own 1976 novel The Glittering Prizes, which is often compared with Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Indeed, it is not too much to say that the popular and critical success … Continue reading →

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Weekend Roundup–Friends at a Distance: Mitford/Waugh Letters

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Jeffrey Manley

An article on the books blog The Captive Reader is effectively a new review of The Letters of Nancy Mitford & Evelyn Waugh first published in 1996. This is written by “Claire of Vancouver” and opens with this: Mitford and … Continue reading →

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Pinfold Redux: Muriel Spark Centenary

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Jeffrey Manley

Articles are appearing in advance of the centenary of novelist Muriel Spark which will be observed next Thursday (1 February). Scottish novelist Allan Massie has written an article in the i Newspaper in which he recalls her career and his … Continue reading →

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Waugh Featured in Spark Memoir

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

Alan Taylor in his recently published memoir of Muriel Spark (Appointment in Arezzo) considers what writers most influenced Spark’s works. This was published in connection with Spark’s centenary next year and is included in what is apparently an excerpt from … Continue reading →

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Brideshead Catholics and the Last Altar Boy

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

In the Roman Catholic news website cruxnow.com there is an article by Fr Dwight Longenecker about various nostalgic tendencies within the church: … conservative Catholics long for a pre-Conciliar Church of the Latin Mass and old devotions. Liberals often dream of a return … Continue reading →

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Pinfold Features in Article on Hallucinatory Literature

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Jeffrey Manley

A recent article in a U.S. academic journal opens with a reference to Waugh’s late, autobiographical novel The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold. This is in an article by John Foxwell of Durham University entitled “Enacting Hallucinatory Experiences in Literature: Metalepsis, … Continue reading →

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