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OverviewThe acclaimed biographer and obituarist for The Economist reflects on a career spent pursuing life and capturing it on the page The acclaimed biographer and obituarist for The Economist reflects on a career spent pursuing life and capturing it on the page ***A FINANCIAL TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023*** ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY** 'Lifescapes is the universe in miniature' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'She's a genius, I believe' HILARY MANTEL, author of Wolf Hall 'What is life?' asked the poet Shelley, and could not come up with an answer. Scientists, too, for all their understanding of how life manifests, thrives and evolves, have still not plumbed that fundamental question. Yet biographers and obituarists continue to corral lives in a few columns, or a few hundred pages, aware all the time how fleeting and elusive their subject is. In this dazzlingly original blend of memoir, biography, observation and poetry, Ann Wroe reflects on the art and impossibility of capturing life on the page. Through her experiences and those of others, through people she has known, studied or merely glimpsed in windows, she movingly explores what makes a life and how that life lingers after. Animated by Wroe's rare imagination, eye for the telling detail, and the wit, beauty and clarity of her writing, Lifescapes is a luminous, deeply personal answer to Shelley's question. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Ann WroePublisher: Vintage Publishing Imprint: Jonathan Cape Ltd Dimensions: Width: 14.20cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 22.20cm Weight: 0.329kg ISBN: 9781787334458ISBN 10: 1787334457 Pages: 224 Publication Date: 31 August 2023 Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , General , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of ContentsReviewsShe's a genius, I believe, because she lights up every subject she touches. Why [is she] underrated? She is personally modest, and her work doesn't fit into a category. She is too original for the market. -- Hilary Mantel Wroe — obituaries editor of The Economist — contends with the myriad details that can bring someone fleetingly back to life on the page. This thought-provoking and beautifully written book blends memoir with poetry and biography in search of what elements can evoke the character of a person * FT, Books of the Year 2023 * Seamlessly merges scenes from the author’s life with the overflow from her admirably humane Economist obituaries, whose subjects, she writes, “whether famous or unknown … have enhanced the world by their existence”. This glimpse of Wroe at work, enriched with stories from her private notebooks, is a treat akin to, borrowing her words, “wild plums fallen in the grass” * TLS, Books of the Year 2023 * She's a genius, I believe, because she lights up every subject she touches -- Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall Beautifully written, the prose witty, twisting and sensuous, but it is sharp, too * The Times * What a treat it is to read a writer at the top of her game... Astonishing... Lifescapes is the universe in miniature * Daily Telegraph * Ann Wroe is a poet of the particular. Her prose, as tightly woven as a rush basket, frequently breaks into song. Lifescapes is a masterly celebration of the world, and of the peculiar and glorious predicament of its inhabitants -- John Banville, author of The Sea A brave, unfashionable and out of the ordinary book… A delight… Lifescapes encourages us to take a deep breath, contemplate life more keenly and acknowledge the miraculous if – and when – we find it * Observer * On the back page of the Economist, the recently departed breathe one last time. Every week I read her first and marvel at the alchemy that produces her beautiful words. Now, thanks to Lifescapes, I begin to understand from whence her shining gift has come -- Peter Hennessy, author of The Silent Deep This is biography as empathy and even hyper-empathy… Wroe operates like a kind of tuning fork… She seems to feel the energy that thrums in people, nature and objects… Compelling * Times Literary Supplement * A rare and beautiful book. Like an aurora borealis or an elusive spherical fish, Ann Wroe's writing performs a merger of substance and form. Reading her, your perception shift to a higher octave. If you want to experience a mystery - how the world's soul moves under the skin of this reality - read this book -- Kapka Kassabova, author of Elixir She's a genius, I believe, because she lights up every subject she touches. Why [is she] underrated? She is personally modest, and her work doesn't fit into a category. She is too original for the market. -- Hilary Mantel Ann Wroe is a versatile and adventurous writer ... Here the world's most mysterious medium has found its most passionate hymnist -- John Banville, praise for SIX FACETS OF LIGHT This is a wonderful book, and almost not a book at all, more a window into another mind ... If she had written an autobiography it would almost inevitably have followed a standard pattern, wheras Six Facets of Light is unprecedented, unpredictable and unforgettable * Sunday Times * It does what poetry is meant to do, and seldom does: it takes you to another place while making you reflect on what it is to be here... Even as a non-believer, you want to hold on to this writing, as if to a book of prayer. * Observer, praise for FRANCIS * [Ann Wroe] turned her formidable gifts to the saint of Assisi in Francis: A Life In Songs. It has a remarkable structure... (of which I am sure the saint himself would approve) * Scotsman, *Books of the Year* * Author InformationAnn Wroe is the Obituaries editor of The Economist, and has written its weekly obituary for almost two decades. She is the author of eight previous works of non-fiction, including biographies of Pontius Pilate (shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Award and the W.H. Smith Award), Perkin Warbeck, Shelley, Orpheus (winner of the Criticos Prize) and St Francis. She lives in Brighton and London. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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