Product Description

Philip Larkin, known to many through his poems, contrived to present a picture of himself to the world which kept many facets of his complicated personality hidden. In this biography Andrew Motion, Larkin's literary executor and close friend, reveals the full man. Granted access to private documents and assisted by the men and women most intimately connected with the poet, this book tells the story of how Larkin, to the cost of his own happiness and that of others, achieved "a writer's life". The author has won the Somerset Maugham Award for poetry and biography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20060 in Books
• Published on: 1994-03-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Customer Reviews

Fascinating reading
This is the best biography I have ever read. As a greatly distinguished poet hiself (accepting the Laureateship, whilst Larkin turned it down 25 years earlier), Motion understands the centrality of poetry to Larkin's life, and this is reflected in the book. Larkin's poetry was a continual reflection of his interior states, and so with great empathy and scrupulous research Motion brings these to light. He is unflinching about Larkin's worse aspects and does not absolve Larkin of his racism, sexism and political vituperativeness but explains the impulses from which they sprang. Motion also writes clearly and with no little finesse. A wonderful book.

The Mysterious Mr. Larkin
When Larkin's diaries were burnt (at his request) "the Truth" about him became beyond human reach. Motion's book attempts to discover what might have held the contradictions of "Philip Larkin" together, always with a sensitive eye to the poetry and the prose. We are very unlikely to see a book as thorough as this about Larkin's life again.

A thorough and compelling exposition of one of the poet
This book takes us through (as you would expect) the life history of Philip Larkin, perhaps one of our finest, yet most misunderstood poets. We see the main protagonists in his life: Martin Amis & chums from Oxford in an almost Evelyn Waugh-esque setting. I was left with the feeling that this Man for whom writing was perhaps his only passion, was essentially a deeply confused (particularly sexually) but brilliant character.