The year of Henry James : or, Timing is all ; the story of a novel ; with other essays on the genesis, composition and reception of literary fiction

In 2004, Henry James featured as a character in no less than three novels - David Lodge's Author, Author was one of them. Where do novelists get their 'ideas' from? How do they develop an idea into a narrative with a specific and individual form? How far is the reception of a work of fiction conditioned by factors outside the writer's control? "An absolutely invaluable document of the modern literary life." - IndependentIn the first part of this book, in revealing and often amusing reminiscence, David Lodge traces the history of his recent novel about Henry James, Author, Author, from the very first mention of the basic idea in his notebook, through the processes of research and writing, to the publication and reception of the finished book, which was adversely affected by the appearance of another novel on the same subject some six months earlier. These two were not the only novels inspired by Henry James in circulation in the year 2004, a phenomenon which Lodge sees with hindsight as "a coincidence waiting to happen", with ironic consequences that the Master himself might have invented. "Full of fascinating stuff... Lodge has the fineness of judgment that James himself thought indispensable." - The GuardianLodge's reflections on his own creative practice are accompanied by studies of the genesis, composition and reception of key works by James himself, as well as other novelists from George Eliot to Vladimir Nabokov, and J.M. Coetzee to Graham Greene. With insightful and amusing candour, here he traces the history of his book from conception to publication, pondering the mystery - and indeed the anguish - of so many novels about James appearing at the same time.I In 2004, Henry James featured as a character in no less than three novels - David Lodge's Author, Author was one of them. With insightful and amusing candour, here he traces the history of his book from conception to publication, pondering the mystery - and indeed the anguish - of so many novels about James appearing at the same time. Lodge's reflections on his own creative practice are accompanied by studies of the genesis, composition and reception of key works by James himself, as well as other novelists from George Eliot to Vladimir Nabokov, and J.M. Coetzee to Graham Greene. "In the first part of this book, in revealing and often amusing reminiscence, David Lodge traces the history of his recent novel about Henry James, Author, Author, from the very first mention of the basic idea in his notebook, through the processes of research and writing, to the publication and reception of the finished book, which was adversely affected the appearance of another novel on the same subject some six months earlier. The essays in the second part pursue the themes of genesis, composition and reception in the work of other novelists."--BOOK JACKET Traces the history from conception to publication, pondering the mystery - and indeed the anguish - of so many novels about Henry James appearing at the same time.