Under the Sun
The Letters of Bruce Chatwin
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"Wonderful...the closest we are ever going to get to a Chatwin autobiography."
-William Dalrymple, The Times Literary Supplement (London)
The celebrated author of such beloved works as In Patagonia and The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin was a nomad whose desire for adventure and enlightenment was made wholly evident by his writing. This marvelous selection of letters-to his wife, to his parents, and to friends, including Patrick Leigh Fermor, James Ivory, and Paul Theroux- reveals a passionate man and a storyteller par excellence. Written with the verve and sharpness of expression that first marked him as an author of singular talent, Chatwin's letters provide a window into his remarkable life and strikingly detailed insights regarding his literary ambitions and tastes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Celebrated English travel writer and novelist Chatwin (In Patagonia) died of AIDS 20 years ago; he was only 48. His letters from such far-flung locales as Sweden, Afghanistan, his beloved Greece, Turkey, Africa, and, of course, Patagonia are lovingly compiled and thoroughly annotated, with indispensable narrative (explaining, for instance, Chatwin s sudden conversion to Eastern Christianity) by Chatwin s widow and his biographer. Given to impulsive life and career changes, Chatwin discusses the full range of life from the mundane to the spiritual, from his writing to his dislike of his own pretty boy looks. He charmed or intimately knew such cultural movers and shakers as Christopher Isherwood, Susan Sontag, Jasper Johns, Edmund White, and many others. There were at least two serious long-term relationships with men (one with filmmaker James Ivory). Yet the Chatwins remained married and always intellectual partners; toward the end of his life, Chatwin writes, despite marital difficulties, neither of us have loved anyone else.
