Product Description

Taking his inspiration from Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood, Louis de Bernieres chose to celebrate his ten years of life in the south London suburb, living above a small shop that had been by turns an outlet for oversized naughty clothes for transvestites, a West Indian hairdressers and junk shop, by writing of the people that he had known and come to love in his time there. Brilliantly capturing the myriad voices of modern Britain, with their different rhythms of speech and accents, their humour and their tragedy, jokes and gossip, de Bernieres' tour de force takes us to the heart of a community and its spirit - the lives of its people

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123769 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages

Review
" Louis de Bernie res is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh... he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste." - A.S. Byatt

From the Publisher
By the author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin
‘This is my farewell embrace to the polymorpheus people of Earlsfield, with whom I lived for ten years…Dedicated to the living and dead of Earlsfield, which was definitely the centre of the world when I was living in it.’

Taking his inspiration from Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, Louis de Bernières chose to celebrate his ten years of life in the south London suburb, living above a small shop that had been by turns an outlet for oversized naughty clothes for transvestites, a West Indian hairdressers and junk shop, by writing of the people that he had known and come to love in his time there.

Brilliantly capturing the myriad voices of modern Britain, with their different rhythms of speech and accents, their humour and their tragedy, jokes and gossip, de Bernières’ tour de force takes us to the heart of a community and its spirit – the lives and loves, the tears and the laughter of its people.

‘Louis de Bernières is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh…he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste’ A. S. Byatt

First broadcast on BBC radio 1998 Performed at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea, 1999 and 2000

About the Author
Louis de Bernieres is the author of four novels, including Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Customer Reviews

An excellent, fun read
I stumbled across this little gem a while ago in my local bookshop, and found myself fascinated by the excellent characterisations and idiosyncracies. It is probably a little expensive for what it is, and yes, it's self-indulgent, but it's still an entertaining read, and I would love to hear the radio play.

Dylan Thomas goes to London with a Greek chorus!
...Apart from 'Red Dog', the shorter texts [...] were all written some time ago. This suggests that de Bernières has always written such idiosyncratic pieces alongside the novels, and the difference now is that publishers want them. Anyway, some of them are good: 'Labels' is a gem. He can write what he likes, can't he? How terrible it would be to have to churn out writing to the same formula all the time to satisfy a stern and rapacious readership: the quality would certainly suffer. However, although it is evocative, has some good observations and jokes and it's fun to trace the influences, I agree that 'Sunday Morning' doesn't work particularly well on the page. It's better on the radio. The music is wonderful, although the fake sarf London accents of the middle-class actors didn't fool me for an instant.

What a wonderful panoply of characters! Hugely enjoyable.
Have just heard this book read aloud on the radio and must get a copy for myself! Louis de Berniere succeeds masterfully in painting a huge ranging panoply of contemporary characters in life (and death) with unabashed, sometimes insolent, always sharply-observed humour. His lyrical language sweeps swiftly from scene to scene and we get taken on a virtual tour of a single Sunday morning in Earlsfield ... or Anyfield! lifting the ordinary into the extraordinary and making us laugh at ourselves along the way.