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Cover image for John Le Carré : the biography
Format:
Book
Title:
John Le Carré : the biography
ISBN:
9780062106278
Edition:
First U.S. edition.
Publication:
New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2015]
Physical Description:
xx, 652 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
General Note:
"First published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by Bloomsbury"--Title page verso.
Contents:
Millionaire paupers -- 'We seek higher things' -- God and Mammon -- Wandering in the fog -- Serving your country -- 'That little college in Turl' -- 'This really is the end' -- Poor but happy -- 'Milk in first and then Indian' -- 'A dead-end sort of place' -- A small town in Germany -- Becoming John le Carré -- Naïve and sentimental love -- Caught in the machine -- Rich but restless -- Keeping the bitterness at bay -- 'You treated your father very badly' -- 'Does anyone know what's going on?' -- 'The love thief' -- Moscow rules -- 'Whatever are you going to write now?' -- 'He makes us look so good' -- The secret centre -- 'Mr angry' -- Beating the system.
Summary:
"In this definitive biography Adam Sisman reveals the man behind the bestselling persona. In John le Carré, Sisman shines a spotlight on David Cornwell, an expert at hiding in plain sight. Of course, the pseudonym John le Carré has helped to keep the public at a distance. Sisman probes Cornwell's unusual upbringing, abandoned by his mother at the age of only five and raised by his con man father (when not in prison), and explores his background in British intelligence, as well as his struggle to become a writer, and his personal life. Sisman has benefited from unfettered access to le Carré's private archive, talked to the most important people in his life, and interviewed the man himself at length"-- provided by publisher.
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