Unreliable Memoirs is a memoir by Australian writer Clive James published in 1980 by Jonathan Cape[1] The book was a bestseller, and the first of a series of autobiographical works.[2]
 | |
| Author | Clive James |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
Publication date | 1980 |
| ISBN | 0224018256 |
| Followed by | Falling Towards England |
It was followed by Falling Towards England, published in 1985, May Week Was in June (1990), North Face of Soho (2006) and The Blaze of Obscurity (2009).[3]
Unreliable Memoirs is also the title of an omnibus edition published in 1990 which included Falling Towards England and May Week Was in June in addition to the title memoir.
Synopsis
editThis volume of James's autobiography follows his life from his early childhood in the Sydney suburb of Kogarah, through school and university until he sets sail for the United Kingdom in 1962.
Critical reception
editWriting in The Canberra Times John Pomeroy noted: "There is much goodwill and affection in these recollections and there is evidence of a painful audit of emotions and influences from his formative years. The book may be short of great names and events and lacking the strong narrative of My Brother Jack, but they will strike a chord for many of his generation."[4]
In 2015 P. J. O'Rourke called the book "the best memoir in the world". He went on: "Unreliable Memoirs is written with a mastery of the honest and a down-the-hole understanding of its pitfalls. Honesty comes in various types and the best is exaggeration...Clive exaggerates to wonderfully honest effect. He sets to work with singular material, a combination of an exceptional young mind, an upbringing in the exotically named town of Kogarah, a pained childhood with his father, a Japanese prisoner of war, surviving only to die in a repatriation plane crash and his mother worn by worry and toil and, finally, tragedy. Then Clive, by a wild act of exaggeration, makes all this universal. He takes the yeast of his memory and plants it in the bread dough of ours."[5]
Publication history
editAfter its original publication in 1980 in the UK by publisher Jonathan Cape[6] the novel was later published as follows:
- Picador, UK, 1980 and 2015[7]
- Knopf, USA, 1981[8]
- W. W. Norton, USA, 2009[7]
- Folio Society, UK, 2010[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Unreliable memoirs / Clive James". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
- ^ Robert McCrum (5 July 2013). "Clive James – a life in writing". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
- ^ Veitch, Harriet (28 November 2019). "Clive James: Literary and TV giant dead at 80". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
- ^ ""Suburban Memoirs"". Canberra Times. The Canberra Times, 13 December 1980, p16. 13 December 1980. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ ""PJ O'Rourke hails the reliable memoir of Clive James"". The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 February 2015. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ "Unreliable Memoris (Jonathan Cape)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ a b c "Austlit — Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James (Jonathan Cape) 1980". Austlit. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ "Unreliable Memoirs (Knopf)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
External links
edit- Unreliable memoirs, with Introduction by P. J. O'Rourke. London, Picador, 2015 at Internet Archive
- Unreliable memoirs: Omnibus containing Unreliable memoirs, Falling Towards England, May Week Was in June. London, Quality Paperbacks Drection, 1990 at Internet Archive