The Dreaming Swimmer: Non-fiction 1987-1992

· Pan Macmillan
Ebook
226
Pages
Eligible
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn More

About this ebook

Thoughtful and funny, this fifth collection of essays from much-loved critic and author Clive James covers the art, politics and culture of 1987–1992.

'A well-balanced show of wit, intellect and glorious observation' – Sunday Times


With work on writers as diverse as Philip Larkin, Primo Levi and Stevie Smith, performers as iconic as Frank Sinatra and Billy Connolly, and publishing events as monumental as the World's First Official The Sun Neighbours Collection Stick Album Plus Extra Free Poster Pull-Out of Jason and Kylie, Clive James is always erudite, insightful and thoroughly entertaining.

'He writes like a prophet and he can satirise folly in high places with a touch as elegant as Oscar Wilde . . . There isn't a word wasted' – Daily Mail

Clive James
(1939–2019) was a broadcaster, critic, poet, memoirist and novelist. His much-loved, influential and hilarious television criticism is available both in individual volumes and collected in Clive James On Television. His encyclopaedic study of culture and politics in the twentieth century, Cultural Amnesia, remains perhaps the definitive embodiment of his wide-ranging talents as a critic.

Praise for Clive James:

'The perfect critic' – A.O. Scott, New York Times

'There can't be many writers of my generation who haven't been heavily influenced by Clive James' – Charlie Brooker

'A wonderfully witty and intelligent writer' – Verity Lambert

About the author

Clive James was the author of more than forty books. As well as essays, he published collections of literary and television criticism, travel writing, verse and novels, plus five volumes of autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, May Week Was In June, North Face of Soho and The Blaze of Obscurity. As a television performer he appeared regularly for both the BBC and ITV, most notably as writer and presenter of the Postcard series of travel documentaries. He published several poetry collections, including the Sunday Times bestseller Sentenced to Life, and a translation of Dante’s The Divine Comedy, which was also a Sunday Times bestseller. In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature. He held honorary doctorates from Sydney University and the University of East Anglia. In 2012 he was appointed CBE and in 2013, an Officer of the Order of Australia. He died in 2019.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.