John Fowles's place in English literary canon has been assured for several decades. His non-fiction writings are less well known, however, in part because they have appeared in periodicals or academic journals, or as forewords or introductions to the authors work. Here, for the first time, is a representative gathering of Fowles's fugitive and intensely personal writings. Wormholes covers the period from 1963 and the appearance of Fowles's first novel, The Collector, to the present. It represents the writer's developing views on the art of fiction, and the relationship of literature to life and morality, throughout the mature, fertile period of his career. Wormholes is a delicious sampling of the various matters that have plagued, preoccupied, or delighted Fowles throughout his life. Not only is it a rich mine of essays as art, it is also a `geography' of the mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest novelists.
About the Author
John Fowles won international recognition with his first published title, The Collector (1963). He was immediately acclaimed as an outstandingly innovative writer of exceptional imaginative power and this reputation was confirmed with the appearance of his subsequent works: The Aristos (1964), The Magus (1966), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969), The Ebony Tower (1974), Daniel Martin (1977), Mantissa (1982), and A Maggot (1985). John Fowles lives and writes in Lyme Regis, Dorset.
Industry Reviews
"Fowles's mind is as lively, tangy and quirkily textured as Stilton" * Observer * "A splendidly uplifting book" -- Richard Mabey "Anyone familiar with books such as The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Magus will already know that Fowles is a perceptive and intelligent writer, but this collection shows him to be as fascinating and entertaining in his non-fiction as he is in his novels. Indeed, Wormholes is something of an embarassment of riches, there are so many marvellous things in here" * Hampstead & Highgate Express * "John Fowles is a magnificent novelist who has written two masterpieces but who has a reluctance to give precise endings to his stories... In the wise and beautifully written essays and biographical pieces of Wormholes he indicates why this is so" * Daily Telegraph *