Al Alvarez's writing career has come in many guises. One of the most influential post-war critics, he has written profoundly and eloquently about writers and their craft for over fifty years. As the Observer's poetry editor he introduced British readers to the new poetry of the fifties and sixties, most famously of course to the poetry of Sylvia Plath. But Alvarez has also been a passionate amateur of risky pursuits - poker playing, mountaineering, flying in old aeroplanes - and he has written about these subjects with a rare depth, liveliness and perception. Risky Business is a selection of Alvarez's finest essays. Ranging from trenchant literary criticism to accounts of polar expeditions and poker championships, it is a sparkling and eclectic collection from our most unusual man of letters.
Al Alvarez's writing career has come in many guises. One of the most influential post-war critics, he has written profoundly and eloquently about writers and their craft for over fifty years. As the Observer's poetry editor he introduced British readers to the new poetry of the fifties and sixties, most famously of course to the poetry of Sylvia Plath. But Alvarez has also been a passionate amateur of risky pursuits - poker playing, mountaineering, flying in old aeroplanes - and he has written about these subjects with a rare depth, liveliness and perception. Risky Business is a selection of Alvarez's finest essays. Ranging from trenchant literary criticism to accounts of polar expeditions and poker championships, it is a sparkling and eclectic collection from our most unusual man of letters.
This is the essential Al Alvarez - the only book to contain the full range of his writing and the one book all his fans will want Includes Alvarez on some of the literary greats of the 20th century: Jean Rhys, Sylvia Plath, Philip Roth, Alice Munro, Philip Larkin For fans of Frank Kermode, Martin Amis's The War Against Cliche and James Wood's The Irresponsible Self
Al Alvarez is a poet, novelist, literary critic, anthologist, and author of many highly praised non-fiction books on topics ranging from suicide, divorce, and dreams - The Savage God, Life After Marriage, Night- to poker, North Sea oil, and mountaineering - The Biggest Game in Town, Offshore, Feeding the Rat. His most recent books are New and Selected Poems and The Writer's Voice. He lives in London.
'If you want a reminder of what writing is really about, you have only to turn to an elegant little book of essays' Robert McCrum on The Writer's Voice 'Is there a more charming literary companion than Al Alvarez?' Spectator
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