Tom Stoppard : a life / Hermione Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lee, Hermione, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stoppard, Tom.

Authors, English--20th century--Biography.

Authors, English.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 872 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), genealogical table ; 25 cm

Edition:

First American edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.

Summary:

"A perfect match of writer and subject: one of our most brilliant biographers takes on one of our greatest living playwrights--with his cooperation and access to a trove of hitherto unseen material. Tom Stoppard is a towering and beloved literary figure. Known for his dizzying narrative inventiveness and intense attention to language, he deftly deploys art, science, history, politics, and philosophy in works that span a remarkable spectrum of literary genres: theater, radio, film, TV, journalism, and fiction. His most acclaimed creations--Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Real Thing, Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Shakespeare in Love--remain as fresh and moving as when they dazzled their first audiences. Stoppard's life, too, is fascinating: born in Czechoslovakia, he escaped the Nazis with his mother and spent his early years in Singapore and India before arriving in England at age eight. Skipping university, he embarked on a brilliant career, becoming close friends over the years with an astonishing array of writers, actors, directors, musicians, and political figures, from Peter O'Toole, Harold Pinter, and Stephen Spielberg to Mick Jagger and Vaclav Havel. Having long described himself as a "bounced Czech," Stoppard was surprised to learn late in life of his Jewish family and the relatives he lost to the Holocaust, secrets his mother had kept from him. Lee's in-depth analysis seamlessly weaves Stoppard's life and work together into a vivid, insightful, and always riveting portrait of a remarkable man"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: PART I

1. First Acts

2. In Transit

3. Englishness

4. The Newcomer

5. Brennus

6. Walking On Water

7. On The Scene

8. Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

PART II

9. Success

10. Miriam

11. "Tom Stoppard Doesn't Know"

12. Acrobatics

13. The Home Team

14. Travesties

PART III

15. Terra Firma

16. Prisoners Of Conscience

17. The Fourth Estate

18. Undiscovered Countries

19. The Real Thing

20. Crossing

PART IV

21. Doubles

22. Script Doctor

23. Changing States

24. Arcadia

25. Mother And Son

26. Reinventions

27. The Scar Of Time

PART V

28. Sir Tom, Om

29. Utopia

30. Commitments And Engagements

31. Rock `N' Roll

32. Parade's End

33. Circumspice

34. The Eightieth Year

35. A Charmed Life.

Notes:

"This is a Borzoi book" -- title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Lee, Hermione, 1948- Tom Stoppard

ISBN:

9780451493224

0451493222

OCLC:

1157677048