NICHOLAS MURRAY

Set in London, Nice, The Greek Isles and Tuscany, this is a beautifully crafted and utterly convincing portrait of infidelity and its repercussions. Characters live in the worlds of classical music, journalism, fashion-modelling and architecture in search of contentment in an increasingly complex yet superficial world. This is a

The poetry that emerged from the trenches of WWI is a remarkable body of work, at once political manifesto and literary beacon for the twentieth century. In this passionate recreation of the lives of the greatest poets to come out of the conflict, Nicholas Murray brilliantly reveals the men themselves as well as the struggle of the artist to live fully and to bear witness in the annihilating squalor of battle.Bringing into sharp focus the human detail of each life, using journals, letters and literary archives, Murray brings to life the mens indissoluble comradeship, their complex sexual mores and their extraordinary courage. Poignant, vivid and unfailingly intelligent, Nicholas Murrays study offers new and finely tuned insight into the - often devastatingly brief - lives of a remarkable generation of men.

This gripping biography of the great Czech novelist, diarist and short story writer chronicles Kafkas entire (if tragically curtailed) life (1883-1924), but it focuses upon the writers relationship to his father and his inheritance as a member of the Jewish mercantile bourgeoisie in Prague. Born into a German-speaking Jewish family, Kafka was a subject of the Austro-Hungarian empire until 1919 yet through his work he is one of the most modern of writers. While previous works have concentrated on Kafka and his women, Nicholas Murray will concentrate on his extraordinary relationship with his father which found its most eloquent literary expression in the story The Judgement written in 1912 when Kafka was twenty-nine:in a reverse Oedipal move, the father condemns his son to death by drowning. This work is essential for an understanding of the intensely private and complex Kafka and the kind of writer he turned out to be - the creator in THE CASTLE, THE TRIAL and METAMORPHOSIS (the dazzling short story whose hero wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant insect) of some of the defining literature of the 20th century.

The grandson of biologist T. H. Huxley, Aldous Huxley had a privileged background and was educated at Eton and Oxford despite an eye infection that left him nearly blind. Having learned braille his eyesight then improved enough for him to start writing, and by the 1920s he had become a fashionable figure, producing witty and daring novels like CROME YELLOW (1921), ANTIC HAY (1923) and POINT COUNTER POINT (1928). But it is as the author of his celebrated portrayal of a nightmare future society, BRAVE NEW WORLD (1932), that Huxley is remembered today. A truly visionary book, it was a watershed in Huxleys world-view as his later work became more and more optimistic - coinciding with his move to California and experimentation with mysticism and psychedelic drugs later in life. Nicholas Murrays brilliant new book has the greatest virtue of literary biographies: it makes you want to go out and read its subjects work all over again. A fascinating reassessment of one of the most interesting writers of the twentieth century.

Esta nueva biografía de Kafka, la primera publicada en los últimos veinte años, traza un impresionante retrato del hombre que está detrás de la obra. Reexamina su larga y tortuosa relación con Felice Bauer, a quien abandono en medio de la desesperacion, su vinculo igualmente complicado con la apasionada Milena Jesenska, y la felicidad de sus ultimos meses con Dora Diamant.A traves de una sensible relectura de la ficcion de Kafka a la luz de estas experiencias, Nicholas Murray propone una nueva mirada sobre la obra y el individuo.

The son of biologist T.H. Huxley, Aldous Huxley had a privileged background and was educated at Eton and Oxford despite an eye infection that left him nearly blind. Having learned braille, his eyesight then improved enough for him to start writing and by the 1920s he had become a fashionable figure, producing witty and daring novels like "Crome Yellow" (1921), "Antic Hay" (1923) and "Point Counter Point" (1928). But it is as the author of his celebrated portrayal of a nightmare future society, "Brave New World" (1932), that Huxley is most remembered. A truly visionary book, "Brave New World" was a watershed in Huxley's world-view as his later work became more and more optimistic - coinciding with his move to California and experimentation with mysticism and psychedelic drugs later in life. Nicholas Murray's biography is a reassessment of one of the most interesting writers of the 20th century.