The Blaze of Obscurity: The TV Years
Oct 2009 · Unreliable Memoirs Book 5 · Pan Macmillan
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About this eBook
In the 1980s, Clive James found his way into full-time television. In The Blaze of Obscurity, his fifth book of memoir, he delivers the inside story. A hilarious, thoughtful, warts and all account of a life in the public eye.
'Clive James is an intellectual as well as a joker, a wise man as well as a wit' – Observer
As his fame grew, Clive James was never alone – except in the toilet. But there, cubicle walls provided little protection against young men, standing at urinals, talking behind his back:
Jesus, he's looking rough.
And it's only Monday.
Taking it in his stride and batting away accusations of selling out, Clive James was in television for the adventure. And an adventure it was. Rollicking through the end of one century and the beginning of the next, he interviews Hefner and Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Françoise Sagan, Peter Ustinov ('even his nose could act') and Ronald Reagan. He explores the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the Louisville Kentucky Holiday Inn talent pageant, sends Postcards from Kenya, Shanghai, Tokyo and Dallas, interprets the news, discovers the first bizarre examples of what has come to be known as reality TV, and promotes the career of the irrepressible Margarita Pracatan – all told here with his trademark humour and thoughtful erudition.
The Blaze of Obscurity is the fifth and final book of memoir from Clive James.
Praise for Clive James:
'It is one of the most tender, frank and, above all, funny accounts of growing up I have ever read' –Michael Parkinson
'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
'Clive James is an intellectual as well as a joker, a wise man as well as a wit' – Observer
As his fame grew, Clive James was never alone – except in the toilet. But there, cubicle walls provided little protection against young men, standing at urinals, talking behind his back:
Jesus, he's looking rough.
And it's only Monday.
Taking it in his stride and batting away accusations of selling out, Clive James was in television for the adventure. And an adventure it was. Rollicking through the end of one century and the beginning of the next, he interviews Hefner and Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Françoise Sagan, Peter Ustinov ('even his nose could act') and Ronald Reagan. He explores the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the Louisville Kentucky Holiday Inn talent pageant, sends Postcards from Kenya, Shanghai, Tokyo and Dallas, interprets the news, discovers the first bizarre examples of what has come to be known as reality TV, and promotes the career of the irrepressible Margarita Pracatan – all told here with his trademark humour and thoughtful erudition.
The Blaze of Obscurity is the fifth and final book of memoir from Clive James.
Praise for Clive James:
'It is one of the most tender, frank and, above all, funny accounts of growing up I have ever read' –Michael Parkinson
'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.
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