| The New Confessions Contributor(s): Boyd, William (Author) |
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ISBN: 0375705031 ISBN-13: 9780375705038 Publisher: Vintage OUR PRICE: $16.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2000 Annotation: In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd. From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. One of the most versatile novelists writing today, Boyd has invented a most irresistible novel. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary - Fiction | Coming Of Age - Fiction | Historical - General |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 00036340 |
| Series: Vintage International |
| Physical Information: 1.06" H x 5.26" W x 7.98" (0.88 lbs) 480 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Cultural Region - West Coast - Geographic Orientation - California - Locality - Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA - Cultural Region - Southern California - Cultural Region - Western U.S. |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd. From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero. |