The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie
by Charles Osborne
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Description
A comprehensive and authorised biographical companion to the works of Agatha Christie covering books, films, TV and plays - revised and updated edition. Agatha Christie was the author of over 100 plays, short story collections and novels which have been translated into 103 languages; she is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Many have tried to copy her but none has succeeded. Attempts to capture her personality on paper, to discover her motivations or the reasons for her popularity, show more have usually failed. Charles Osborne, a lifelong student of Agatha Christie, has approached this most private of persons above all through her books, and the result is a fascinating companion to her life and work. This 'professional life' of Agatha Christie provides authoritative information on each book's provenance, on the work itself and on its contemporary critical reception set against the background of the major events in the author's life. Illustrated with many rare photographs, this comprehensive guide to the world of Agatha Christie has been fully updated to include details of all the publications, films and TV adaptations in the 25 years since her death. show lessTags
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y2pk More about Agatha Christie's life, her memoirs of archeological digs in Iraq and Syria during the 1930s.
Member Reviews
"Biographical companion" is an excellent description. Osborne discusses Christie's life as it relates to her books. Each book is discussed in order of being published, from both a critical and Christie's personal viewpoint, as well as thoughts about the characters created by Christie. For instance, the character of the doctor's sister in "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" was the forerunner of the popular Miss Marple in later books. In addition, Osborne brings in information about what was going on in Christie's private life at the time, which might have influenced her writing. A fascinating book for the Christie fan.
Not the best biography of Agatha Christie out there but it does include a better-than-average discussion of her work.
The perfect guide to all of Christie's novels, with plenty of interesting background stories.
An excellent reference book for Agatha Christie buffs. Well researched and well written.
© Koplowitz 2012
© Koplowitz 2012
VG+GoodDJ. HB reprint
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Author Information
40 Works 6,001 Members
Charles Osborne's acclaimed Complete Operas series includes books on the operas of Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, and Richard Strauss. All are available in paperback from Da Capo Press.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1979
- People/Characters
- Agatha Christie
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 184
- Popularity
- 177,290
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (4.10)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 3
