Media Reviews
'excellent...wholly convincing and always interesting...an outstanding biography' -- The Scotsman '[Hastings] provides a searing emotional history...her closing chapter...is so powerfully written, in places so shocking, as to give a series of physical jolts to the reader. Hastings's book cannot be bettered' -- Sunday Telegraph, Richard Davenport-Hines 'One of the fascinating pleasures of this superb biography [is] to see the veils being stripped away and the messy truth about Maugham's life and relationships exposed...Hastings recounts the mass of detail and the massive literary output with great sagacity and the sharpest of eyes' -- The Guardian, William Boyd '[Hasting's] superior, marvellously rich synthesis of so many resources...produces a narrative that is strikingly clear yet never reductive. It's a gripping, often sensational account of a singular life, gaining pathos in its closing descriptions of the senile Maugham's manipulations by Searle' -- The Independent, Richard Canning 'The places and people she describes are portrayed with such graphic clarity and assurance. She sets a scene or establishes a personality with great economy and intensity' -- The Observer, William Boyd 'Engrossing...a brilliant evocation' -- Financial Times Weekend, Jackie Wullschlager 'A remarkable book, sympathetic and sardonic, comic and tragic, serious and naughty' -- Telegraph Review, Michael Bloch 'Selina Hastings has done an excellent job...Hastings has managed to humanise Maugham without ever attempting to gloss over his defects... Her characterisations are sharp, her judgement sound and her grasp of narrative as sure as her subject's,' -- Evening Standard 20090924 'Hastings has teased out the complicated chronicle...and offers a fuller picture then ever of [Maugham]' -- The Independent, John Walsh 20090924 'The best parts of Hasting's engrossing book are her descriptions of Maugham as a young literary man on the make...a sensitive and sympathetic biography' -- The Sunday Times (Culture), Robert Harris 20090924 'Her [Selina Hasting's] admirable new book,' -- Independent on Sunday, Sholto Byrnes 20090927 'An outstanding biography...replete with insights and asides, perceptive synopses and analyses of the work and, for those who want it, an abundance of salacious scurrility, this is a tale that would have held Maugham's attention from start to finish' -- The Irish Times, Robert O'Byrne 20090927 'This steady-eyed biography of an extraordinary, extravagant, generous and bitter artist will not only fascinate its readers but encourage some to go to his work for the first time' -- Times Literary Supplement, Jeremy Treglown 20090927 'Every so often, a biography appears of such authority and such power that it is more than a chronicle of a human life, it is a work of art...brilliant...such is Selina Hasting's skill that this horrible story is richly enjoyable' -- Reader's Digest, A. N. Wilson 20090927 'Selina Hastings' excellent biography, perceptive, well-written and with a happy turn of phrase' -- The Spectator, Juiet Townsend 20090927 'Hastings narrates it with relish and fairness, in roughly equal proportions, giving somewhat dutiful space to Maugham's literary achievements before excitedly leaping back into the fray of greed, sex and violence' -- The Mail on Sunday, Craig Brown 20090927 'Hasting's talent as a biographer is to create three-dimensional novelists...her Life of Maugham is pitch-perfect: supple, confident and written with something of the same beady detachment (and enjoyable signature streak of malice) as the great tale-teller himself' -- The Daily Telegraph, Telegraph Review, Nicholas Shakespeare 20090927 ' All this is chronicled brilliantly by Selina Hastings, whose research, empathy and style cannot be faulted...an impressively perceptive and often moving account of an extraordinarily interesting man' -- Literary Review (Diana Athill) 20090927 'A biographer who is second to none...The result is nothing less than a triumph...Hastings shares some of her subject's best literary attributes...Be warned: once picked up, this excellent biography is impossible to put down,' -- The Herald 20090926 'Well written, continuously interesting, generous and fair' -- Standpoint, Alan Massie 20090926 'The strength of Hasting's book lies in its refusal to simplify a complex man' -- Intelligent Life, Peter Beech 20090926 'A definitive biography...,' -- Saga Magazine 20090926 'If anyone can bring clarity to this complex man it is this most lucid and perceptive of biographers' -- Bookseller 20090911 Praise for EVELYN WAUGH by Selina Hastings -- : 20090911 'Perceptive, witty and beautifully written' -- Daily Mail 20090911 'She has written a sympathetic and highly intelligent book, which also - rarity of rarities these days - reads rapidly. It is sympathetic also because ... the author adores gossip' -- Daily Telegraph 20090911 'Entertaining, delightful and rewarding ... The narrative is at once gripping and thoughtful on every page' -- Mail on Sunday 20090911 'Her style is supremely elegant and her eye for detail brings dazzle and wit to every page ... This is a monumental book' -- Independent on Sunday 20090911 'A brilliant, three-dimensional portrait' -- Country Life 20090911 Praise for ROSAMOND LEHMANN by Selina Hastings -- : 20090911 'Mischief, gossip, acuity and admiration - and not to be missed' -- Sunday Times 20090911 'A gorgeous piece of work ... exactly right for its subject: fast-paced, vivid, bursting with characters, gossip and emotions, a book you want to gobble up ... A fine and compelling biography' -- Hermione Lee, Observer 20090911 'I can think of few biographies that are as un-put-downable as a novel, but Selina Hastings has produced one: fluidly elegant, witty, detached yet utterly gripping' -- Spectator 20090911 'Literary biography could hardly be better done.' -- The Spectator 20090911 'Selina Hastings has coped manfully with the task of summarising Maugham's huge oeuvre without distracting her readers from his long and eventful life' -- The Oldie 20090911 'The year's best biography by far' -- Sunday Express 20090911 'excellent...wholly convincing and always interesting...an outstanding biography' -- The Scotsman 20090911 '[Hastings] provides a searing emotional history...her closing chapter...is so powerfully written, in places so shocking, as to give a series of physical jolts to the reader. Hastings's book cannot be bettered' -- Sunday Telegraph, Richard Davenport-Hines 20090911 'One of the fascinating pleasures of this superb biography [is] to see the veils being stripped away and the messy truth about Maugham's life and relationships exposed...Hastings recounts the mass of detail and the massive literary output with great sagacity and the sharpest of eyes' -- The Guardian, William Boyd 20090911 '[Hasting's] superior, marvellously rich synthesis of so many resources...produces a narrative that is strikingly clear yet never reductive. It's a gripping, often sensational account of a singular life, gaining pathos in its closing descriptions of the senile Maugham's manipulations by Searle' -- The Independent, Richard Canning 20090911 'The places and people she describes are portrayed with such graphic clarity and assurance. She sets a scene or establishes a personality with great economy and intensity' -- The Observer, William Boyd 20090911 'Engrossing...a brilliant evocation' -- Financial Times Weekend, Jackie Wullschlager 20090911 'A remarkable book, sympathetic and sardonic, comic and tragic, serious and naughty' -- Telegraph Review, Michael Bloch 20090911 'Selina Hastings has done an excellent job...Hastings has managed to humanise Maugham without ever attempting to gloss over his defects... Her characterisations are sharp, her judgement sound and her grasp of narrative as sure as her subject's,' -- Evening Standard 20090924 'Hastings has teased out the complicated chronicle...and offers a fuller picture then ever of [Maugham]' -- The Independent, John Walsh 20090924 'The best parts of Hasting's engrossing book are her descriptions of Maugham as a young literary man on the make...a sensitive and sympathetic biography' -- The Sunday Times (Culture), Robert Harris 20090924 'Her [Selina Hasting's] admirable new book,' -- Independent on Sunday, Sholto Byrnes 20090927 'An outstanding biography...replete with insights and asides, perceptive synopses and analyses of the work and, for those who want it, an abundance of salacious scurrility, this is a tale that would have held Maugham's attention from start to finish' -- The Irish Times, Robert O'Byrne 20090927 'This steady-eyed biography of an extraordinary, extravagant, generous and bitter artist will not only fascinate its readers but encourage some to go to his work for the first time' -- Times Literary Supplement, Jeremy Treglown 20090927 'Every so often, a biography appears of such authority and such power that it is more than a chronicle of a human life, it is a work of art...brilliant...such is Selina Hasting's skill that this horrible story is richly enjoyable' -- Reader's Digest, A. N. Wilson 20090927 'Selina Hastings' excellent biography, perceptive, well-written and with a happy turn of phrase' -- The Spectator, Juiet Townsend 20090927 'Hastings narrates it with relish and fairness, in roughly equal proportions, giving somewhat dutiful space to Maugham's literary achievements before excitedly leaping back into the fray of greed, sex and violence' -- The Mail on Sunday, Craig Brown 20090927 'Hasting's talent as a biographer is to create three-dimensional novelists...her Life of Maugham is pitch-perfect: supple, confident and written with something of the same beady detachment (and enjoyable signature streak of malice) as the great tale-teller himself' -- The Daily Telegraph, Telegraph Review, Nicholas Shakespeare 20090927 ' All this is chronicled brilliantly by Selina Hastings, whose research, empathy and style cannot be faulted...an impressively perceptive and often moving account of an extraordinarily interesting man' -- Literary Review (Diana Athill) 20090927 'A biographer who is second to none...The result is nothing less than a triumph...Hastings shares some of her subject's best literary attributes...Be warned: once picked up, this excellent biography is impossible to put down,' -- The Herald 20090926 'Well written, continuously interesting, generous and fair' -- Standpoint, Alan Massie 20090926 'The strength of Hasting's book lies in its refusal to simplify a complex man' -- Intelligent Life, Peter Beech 20090926 'A definitive biography...,' -- Saga Magazine 20090926 'If anyone can bring clarity to this complex man it is this most lucid and perceptive of biographers' -- Bookseller 20090911 Praise for EVELYN WAUGH by Selina Hastings -- : 20090911 'Perceptive, witty and beautifully written' -- Daily Mail 20090911 'She has written a sympathetic and highly intelligent book, which also - rarity of rarities these days - reads rapidly. It is sympathetic also because ... the author adores gossip' -- Daily Telegraph 20090911 'Entertaining, delightful and rewarding ... The narrative is at once gripping and thoughtful on every page' -- Mail on Sunday 20090911 'Her style is supremely elegant and her eye for detail brings dazzle and wit to every page ... This is a monumental book' -- Independent on Sunday 20090911 'A brilliant, three-dimensional portrait' -- Country Life 20090911 Praise for ROSAMOND LEHMANN by Selina Hastings -- : 20090911 'Mischief, gossip, acuity and admiration - and not to be missed' -- Sunday Times 20090911 'A gorgeous piece of work ... exactly right for its subject: fast-paced, vivid, bursting with characters, gossip and emotions, a book you want to gobble up ... A fine and compelling biography' -- Hermione Lee, Observer 20090911 'I can think of few biographies that are as un-put-downable as a novel, but Selina Hastings has produced one: fluidly elegant, witty, detached yet utterly gripping' -- Spectator 20090911 'Literary biography could hardly be better done.' -- The Spectator 20090911 'Selina Hastings has coped manfully with the task of summarising Maugham's huge oeuvre without distracting her readers from his long and eventful life' -- The Oldie 20090911 'The year's best biography by far' -- Sunday Express 20090911
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