The picturesque prison
Subtitle: Evelyn Waugh and his writing
By: Jeffrey Heath.
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Published: 1982
Place of publication: Kingston [Ont.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 334
Subjects: Waugh, Evelyn, 1903-1966 -- Criticism and interpretation
Description: This study of the life and works of Evelyn Waugh traces the novelist's pursuit of his vocation and his long retreat from a world which he came to regard as a spiritual dungeon. Jeffrey Heath explores the paradoxical elements in Waugh's career: his quest for a refuge itself proved to be a prison and his devotion to the Augustan graces was accompanied by a lasting attraction to a Dionysiac age without restraint. The deep cleft in Waugh's nature imbued his art with the characteristic quirky complexity which has fascinated many readers, but it left him a choleric and melancholy man who never fully accepted his calling as a writer.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.