The Boy Who Loved Books: A Memoir

by John Sutherland

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A memoir in the tradition of Lorna Sage's Bad Blood and Blake Morrison's When Did You Last See your Father? John Sutherland's childhood ended abruptly the day his father was killed at the beginning of World War Two - happily before he could kill any Germans. John's widowed mother fell in love with a new man and decamped to Argentina, leaving John to be looked after by various relatives - some more suited to raising children than others. It was an odd, unsettled childhood and John took refuge show more in books. He quickly learned how to fit in without disturbing people, and, in doing so, began to store up resentments as a child. These resentments, with the trigger of alcohol in later life, would one day explode - serially and for many years. The Boy Who Loved Books is an account of a disrupted childhood, but it is also an account of one man's often desperate love affair with reading matter. Books in many ways changed his life, propelling him to university, and sustaining him in the dark times that were to come. It is also a record of the shifting twentieth century and the profound changes that shook society and its ways of dealing with children in the institutions of family, school and university. show less

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133+ Works 5,096 Members
John Sutherland was born on October 9, 1938. After graduating from the University of Leicester in 1964, he began his academic career as an assistant lecturer in Edinburgh. He specializes in Victorian fiction, 20th century literature, and the history of publishing. He is Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at University show more College, London and is currently teaching at the California Institute of Technology. He writes for The Guardian and is a well-known literary reviewer. He is the author of more than 20 books including Stephen Spender: The Authorized Biography, How to Read a Novel: A User's Guide, The Boy Who Loved Books, Curiosities of Literature, 50 Literature Ideas You Really Need to Know, Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives, and Magic Moments: Life-Changing Encounters with Books, Film, Music. He is also the co-author, with Stephen Fender, of Love, Sex, Death and Words: Tales from a Year in Literature. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
2007

Classifications

Genres
Biography & Memoir, Literature Studies and Criticism
DDC/MDS
801.95092Literature & rhetoricLiterature, rhetoric & criticismPhilosophy and theoryNature and characterLiterary theory and criticismBiography And HistoryBiography
LCC
PR55 .S88 .A3Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish LiteratureLiterary history and criticism

Statistics

Members
56
Popularity
547,242
Rating
(3.10)
Languages
English
Media
Paper
ISBNs
3