A Man of Parts

Description

A moving, funny and masterful novel about the life of H.G. Wells - writer, thinker, lover and man of genius. A MAN OF CONTRADICTIONS. A MAN OF PASSION. A MAN OF THE FUTURE. Sequestered in his blitz-battered Regent's Park house in 1944, the ailing Herbert George Wells, 'H.G.' to his family and friends, looks back on a life crowded with incident, books, and women. Charting his unpromising start as a draper's assistant to his rapid rise to fame as a writer with a prophetic imagination, his immersion in socialist politics and his belief in and practice of free love, A Man of Parts is an astonishing novel of passion, ambition and controversy.

David Lodge (CBE)'s novels include Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work (shortlisted for the Booker) and, most recently, A Man of Parts. He has also written plays and screenplays, and several books of literary criticism. His works have been translated into more than thirty languages. He is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Birmingham, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

"This is his best book in years: sprawling, funny, touching, a near-perfect fusion of story and scholarship" Mail on Sunday "Excellent... scrupulous and scholarly... It bounds along terrifically" Guardian "Lodge's robust approach, his insights, energy and humour, enable him to present HG as a man not only for his own times but also for ours" -- Patricia Craig Irish Times "Absorbing and thoroughly enjoyable" -- Allan Massie Scotsman "David Lodge's novel goes straight to the heart of the story... It is pure fun" -- Claire Harman Evening Standard