About this title: John Lahr - New Yorker critic, novelist, and biographer of his father Bert Lahr ("Notes on a Cowardly Lion") - reconstructs both the life and death of Joe Orton in another extraordinary biography that was chosen Book of the Year by Truman Capote and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Patrick White when it first appeared in 1978. 'I have high hopes of ...
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Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 1986-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 1986-Paperback-Cover shows minor shelf wear. ---Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Limelight Editions
Date Published: Apr-86
ISBN-13:9780879100575ISBN:0879100575
Description: Very Good. GREAT BOOK! MILD SHELF WEAR ON COVER, LIGHTLY AGED, INITIALS ON OUTER EDGE BUT NO MARKINGS IN TEXT. Description: John Lahr--New Yorker, critic, novelist, and biographer of his father Bert Lahr (Notes on a Cowardly Lion)--reconstructs both the life and death of Joe Orton in another extraordinary biography that was chosen Book of the Year by Truman Capote and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Patrick White when it first appeared in 1978. ""I have high hopes of dying in my prime, """" Joe ... read more
Description: Good. 014004924X Condition: GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, dust jacket missing, cover wear, name written inside cover, considerable underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, binding loose, binding slants, pages tanning / curling, etc. Overall, the book is in decent shape. This is a blanket description. Please email us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Limelight Editions
Date Published: 1986-04
ISBN-13:9780879100575ISBN:0879100575
Description: Very Good. 1986 softcover. First Limelight Edition stated. Unmarked, well-bound copy with minor shelf wear only, and one dog-eared page. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780140049244ISBN:014004924X
Description: Fair. Paperback, a good reading copy. Cover image is a stock image and may vary. Your book will be securely packed and promptly dispatched from our UK warehouse. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780140049244ISBN:014004924X
Description: Good/No Jacket. 014004924X Used numerous b/w plates, creasing to spine, wear along cover edges, chipping to head of spine, chipping and creasing to corners of cover, yellowing to pages, otherwise text clean and tight. read more
"Fabulous. If you are a Joe Orton fan, I'd be surprised if you haven't read this. John Lahr is a beautiful biographer. Sad, funny, inspiring, real and hard to believe, all at once. Fact is better than fiction. Wish I had the balls to be a fly on Joe's wall. Incredibly informative. A must read!"
"It's not just the biog of Joe Orton - it's as much about Kenneth Halliwell, the "middle-aged non-entity" that killed him. Both of their lives are interesting and feintly depressing. Orton's world - from his working class beginnings with his brow-beaten, unloving father and a slightly insane, highly strung mother and the brother and sister that he hated, right down to his sexual escapades in toilets and deserted buildings. Then Halliwell, who was with his mum when she dropped dead after being stung by a bee, and who stepped over his dad's body one morning after he'd killed himself, in order to turn on the kettle. Even if he did say that you should put your genius into your work, rather than your life, he still managed to do both.
Their life histories were slightly more gripping to me than the literary analysis of the plays, but I was still impressed that the book dealt so seriously and extensively with Orton's work. Was glad I read em all first. Interesting to see how his craft developed - leaving school semi-illiterate, self-educating through reading and Halliwell's influence, tapping out a few pretentious novels, having a hit with Entertaining Mr Sloane, nearly buggering it all up when Loot went horribly wrong... and the rest is history. Interesting how talent is something you have to work at. Sometimes the most talented people are the ones who aren't born with it. Liked the fact that the book isn't chronological too - beginning and ending, full circle, with the end.
If 'You Can't Live As I Have Lived And Not End Up Like This' - the biog of Willie Donaldson had been written by someone who could a. write and b. resist drooling sycophantically at every mention of the subject - as per this book, it could have been this good. Similar worlds, maybe even a more intriguing life."
"Excellent study of the enigmatic Orton. A must-read for fans, a great and interesting tale for everyone else. Orton's spectacular rise and murder are detailed here in Mr. Lahr's deeply felt portrait."
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