The Quest for Corvo
An Experiment in Biography
$36.17
- Paperback
272 pages
- Release Date
16 April 2018
Summary
Part biography, part detective story: the extraordinary life of the eccentric writer Frederick Baron Corvo.
One summer afternoon A.J.A. Symons is handed a peculiar novel called Hadrian the Seventh and, captivated by this forgotten masterpiece, determines to learn everything he can about its mysterious author. Symons proceeds as a detective might, investigating leads, collecting evidence and corresponding with witnesses. The object of his search is Frederick Rolfe, the self-appointed B…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780241312995 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 024131299X |
| Author: | A.J.A. Symons |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Imprint: | Penguin Classics |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 272 |
| Release Date: | 16 April 2018 |
| Weight: | 206g |
| Dimensions: | 197mm x 130mm x 18mm |
| Series: | Penguin Modern Classics |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
Part detective story, part spiritual journey, and part meditation on biography. Steeped in arcane learning, queer encounters, and fanciful symbolist prose, it is a very peculiar operation indeed, leaving he reader unconvinced that there was ever such a real person as Frederick Rolfe - or, possibly, his biographer – Hermione Lee
A slender book, an odd book, a completely original book … a masterpiece * Wall Street Journal *
One of the genre’s most notable - if also quirkiest - triumphs * New Criterion *
Extraordinary … a new template for twentieth-century biography * Times Literary Supplement *
About The Author
A.J.A. Symons
A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) lived a short life described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.
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