The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan - Couverture rigide

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1582341605 ISBN 13 : 9781582341606

Editeur : Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2001

Synopsis

Critic Kenneth Tynan, the impresario who created "Oh Calcutta", was also an eccentric and connoisseur of cuisine, wine, literature and women. His diaries record a judicious blend of aesthetics, theatre lore, love, marriage, sex and politics.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

Perhaps the most brilliant and feared theatre critic of his generation, Kenneth Tynan was responsible for 'Oh! Calcutta!', and was also a notorious eccentric, who enjoyed wine, literature and women and the first person to say the 'f' word on television. A larger-than-life character, he "combined the soul of a artist with the descriptive skill of a journalist". His diaries, as edited by John Lahr (senior drama critic of the New Yorker and writer of a definitive study of Joe Orton), have been eagerly awaited and, sure enough, they prove as colourful and controversial as the legendary figure who originated them. He knew everybody, and everyone wanted to know him, on both sides of the Atlantic. He was at the centre of the theatre and film worlds. Such was - and is - Tynan's stature and influence that the publication of this collection must rank as something of an event. Whether talking about the National Theatre, psychoanalysis, his much-talked-about sado-masochistic relationships, or just watching Muhammad Ali fight on TV, he is never less than riveting. For many this will be an essential purchase - Tynan still wears well.

The yards of column space that have already been expended on these diaries tend to dwell (rather disapprovingly) on Kenneth Tynan's sado-masochism. The Oxford-educated boy genius turned theatre critic, hitherto best known for daring to use the F-word on television, will now go down in history as a compulsive disciplinarian and pervert. It's true that sex suffuses these diaries, whether it be the famous spanking sessions with mistress Nicole (and sundry other pick-ups) the live sex shows in Hamburg or the porn movies, watched, with deliciously guilty pleasure, in the unlikely company of Princess Margaret. But there is much more besides, for these diaries are packed to the hilt with colourful anecdotes (smoking pot with Peter Sellers, hanging out on the set of Roman Polanski's Macbeth), wry observations, bon mots, quotes from friends and from whatever Ken happens to be reading. A veritable treasure trove of titbits, funny and frank by turns, they also provide a vivid record of the time (the early 1970s) when they were written the films, the plays, the politics, the big sports events (of Muhammed Ali's defeat by Joe Frazier in 1971, Tynan writes: 'there is breathtaking hubris he reminds one of a beautiful butch queer savouring the ecstasy of being beaten up and rolled by a bit of rough trade'). Alas, by the end, a rather depressing picture emerges, of a gifted but hopelessly narcissistic aesthete, cigarette permanently dangling from effete fingertips, who never achieved his full potential, worn down and eventually disillusioned by the soul-destroying struggle to raise finance for his (largely unrealized) film and theatre projects. In the end he was 'just a critic', but a truly great one, with a rare gift for wordplay. John Lahr's pedantic (and sometimes inaccurate) annotations grate somewhat, but otherwise, this is a journal to rank alongside the Alan Clark Diaries and the Letters of William Burroughs in its brazen shamelessness, its love of language and razor-sharp wit. (Kirkus UK) --various

Présentation de l'éditeur

Irreverent, indiscreet, wildly funny, sad, shocking yet inspiring, the legendary diaries of Kenneth Tynan are above all compelling literature of a very high order. Here was a man who knew virtually everyone in the theatre and film worlds on both sides of the Atlantic for three decades - and had fascinating gossip on most of them. A brilliant and feared critic, Kenneth Tynan was a nabob of the National Theatre alongside Laurence Olivier, and he was also the daring impresario who created 'Oh Calcuta'. He was a notorious eccentric, a louche sophisticate: connoisseur of cuisine, wine, literature and women. Where else could you find such a judicious blend of aesthetics, theatre lore, love, marriage, sex and politics? These sizzling diaries will remind older readers of a man whose reputation as the greatest critic of the twentieth century is still unchallenged and introduce younger readers to an electrifying writer who simply could not be boring.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Date d'édition: 2001
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1582341605
• ISBN 13: 9781582341606
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 420
• Éditeur: Lahr John
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: WordUnited GmbH; distribution@wordunited.com; ; Theodorstrasse 105; DUSSELDORF; 40472; Allemagne