Sidetracks: Explorations Of a Romantic Biographer

Sidetracks: Explorations Of a Romantic Biographer by Richard Holmes


ISBN
9780007204540
Published
Released
01 / 11 / 2013
Binding
Paperback
Pages
432
Dimensions
129 x 198 x 26mm

A beautifully reissued classic, a mixture of biography and memoir...

'Sidetracks' is a sister book to 'Footsteps', conjured up from decades of 'wanderings from the straight and narrow' of his major biographies like Shelley and Coleridge. The collection is held together by a subtle autobiographical thread: 'to be sidetracked is, after all, to be led astray by a path or an idea, a scent or a tune, and maybe lost forever.' The centerpiece of book concerns Mary Woolstonecraft, the great feminist crusader and philosopher, and her relationship with William Godwin. Their story and travails are inspiring and poignant, all told in riveting and beautiful prose style.

'Sidetracks' winds through an extraordinary and eclectic assortment of Romantic and Gothic writers and personalities: some French, some English, some Dutch, some American, some major, some minor, but all made hypnotically alive and memorable through Holmes's transforming touch. We meet Chatterton and Gautier, Pierrot and Voltaire, Mary Wollstonecraft and Godwin, Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda, James Boswell and Zelide, MR James and some very unpleasant gothic apparitions.



With each of these twenty pieces Holmes shows how fluid, playful and unconstrained the many voices of biography can be. The book includes two documentary radio-plays, many different kinds of character sketch and travelogue, true love stories and true ghost stories, and one piece, 'Dr Johnson's First Cat' which may or may not be a piece of true biographical fiction. 'Sidetracks' is a renewed examination of the strange and sometimes shadowy pathways of biography that have always fascinated Holmes.
Christmas Catalogue 2024 x BookFrenzy
25.49
RRP: $29.99
15% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $29.99
Enter your Postcode or Suburb to view availability and delivery times.

Other Titles by Richard Holmes


You might also like

Three Women
22.99
19.54
15% Off
Question 7
35.00
29.75
15% Off
The Trauma Cleaner
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Maid
22.99
19.54
15% Off
My Friend Anne Frank
24.99
21.24
15% Off
For Life
34.99
29.74
15% Off
The Friday Afternoon Club
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Wed by the Wayside
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Strong Female Character
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Sassafras
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Kitchen Sentimental
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Tiny Beautiful Things
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Model Minority Gone Rogue
34.99
29.74
15% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.