A poignant memoir of the Paris literary scene in the 1950s and 1960s by one of its protagonists Some of last century's leading cultural figures are brought to life here, people who shaped our modern thinking and defined the tastes of an entire generation, changing forever the way we look at literature and the world around us. Drawing from the accounts of two fellow publishers—Maurice Girodias and Barney Rosset, who were also active in the heady days of 1950s and 1960s Paris, London, and New York—and from his own personal recollections, John Calder talks about the challenges of being a publisher in that era of censorship and political persecution and the problems faced by such writers as Beckett, Burroughs, Trocchi, and Miller to have their work accepted and recognized. Told in John Calder's trademark raconteur style and peppered with salacious, revealing, and entertaining anecdotes, this book will appeal both to the general reader and anyone who is interested in the social and cultural history of the 20th century.

Product Description: John Calder analyzes the dualism of Beckett's theological writing, his debt to the Gnostics, Manichaeism and Geulincx in particular, the presence of ghosts in his work, and why his late writing has received so little attention Like all the greatest writers, Samuel Beckett was primarily interested in discovering the meaning and purpose of life and of the world into which we are born...read more

Product Description: Because of its immediacy and spontaneity, poetry inevitably reflects the author more than any autobiography can do. John Calder’s new poetry collection, Solo, avoids strict poetic forms in favour of a casual and natural expression of thought...read more

Product Description: Increasingly Samuel Beckett is seen as the culmination of the great literature of the twentieth century - the successor to Proust, Joyce and Kafka, and a writer whose relevance to his time and use of poetic imagery can be compared to Shakespeare's in the late Renaissance...read more

Product Description: Published to celebrate the centenary of Scottish radiology, from the establishment of the first medical radiology department in the world at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1896, this book traces the evolution of the profession and the contributions of Scottish medical staff to today's multi-million pound discipline...read more

Product Description: stories/excerpts, tr Richard Howard et al