FSG Classics Series

In this largely autobiographical book Isherwood gives a fascinating account of the making of a writer. His story begins with the intellectual hothouse atmosphere of Cambridge in the early twenties: but it is his wickedly funny depiction of the Bohemian life of London, with thinly disguised portraits of many brilliant men - Auden and Stephen Spender among them - that is most intriguing. With his witty, appealing and sometimes outrageous pen Isherwood illuminates the society that created writers and thinkers who have shaped much of the twentieth century.

The Memorial

by Christopher Isherwood

Published 1 January 1946

With The Memorial, Christopher Isherwood began his lifelong work of rewriting his own experiences into witty yet almost forensic portraits of modern society. Set in the aftermath of World War I, The Memorial portrays the dissolution of a tradition-bound English family. Cambridge student Eric Vernon finds himself torn between his desire to emulate his heroic father, who led a life of quiet sacrifice before dying in the war, and his envy for his father's great friend Edward Blake, who survived the war only to throw himself into gay life in Berlin and the pursuit of meaningless relationships.

Down There on a Visit

by Christopher Isherwood

Published November 1974

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY PHILIP HENSHER

Berlin, the Greek Islands, London and California. 1928, 1932, 1938 and 1940. Four portraits, four settings, four narrators, all known as 'Christopher Isherwood'. Often regarded as the best of his novels, Down There on a Visit tells the vivid stories of Isherwood's life that, together with The Berlin Novels, were to have comprised his great unfinished epic novel.

Christopher and His Kind

by Christopher Isherwood

Published March 1977

In November 1929, Christopher Isherwood - determined to become a 'permanent foreigner' - packed a rucksack and two suitcases and left England on a one-way ticket for Berlin. With incredible candour and wit, Isherwood recalls the decadence of Berlin's night scene and his route to sexual liberation. As the Nazis rise to power, Isherwood describes his dramatic struggle to save his partner Heinz from persecution.

A Single Man

by Christopher Isherwood

Published December 1964

In this brilliantly perceptive novel, a middle aged professor living in California is alienated from his students by differences in age and nationality, and from the rest of society by his homosexuality. Isherwood explores the depths of the human soul and its ability to triumph over loneliness, alienation and loss.

The World in the Evening

by Christopher Isherwood

Published 20 August 1973

Against the backdrop of World War II, this work charts the emotional development of Stephen Monk, an aimless Englishman living in California. The world traveller comes to a gradual understanding of himself and of his newly adopted homeland.'

Prater Violet

by Christopher Isherwood

Published March 1969

Originally published in 1945, Prater Violet is a stingingly satirical novel about the film industry. It centers around the production of the vacuous fictional melodrama Prater Violet, set in nineteenth-century Vienna, providing ironic counterpoint to tragic events as Hitler annexes the real Vienna of the 1930s. The novel features the vivid portraits of imperious, passionate, and witty Austrian director Friedrich Bergmann and his disciple, a genial young screenwriter -- the fictionalized Christopher Isherwood.

Kathleen and Frank

by Christopher Isherwood

Published 21 October 1971

This is a biography of Kathleen and Frank Isherwood, written by their son who wrote "Goodbye to Berlin", "A Single Man" and "Christopher and His Kind". Based on their letters and Kathleen's diary it is the story of their times, and is full of public events and period atmosphere - the relief of Ladysmith, the funeral of Queen Victoria, Bleriot's flight across the English Channel, Sara Bernhardt's Hamlet, the beginning of the troubles in Ireland, hunt balls, changing fashions, servant problems, suffragettes, army life in barracks and in battle.

A Meeting by the River

by Christopher Isherwood

Published June 1967

Two English brothers meet, after a long separation, in India. Oliver prepares to take his final vows as a Hindu monk. Patrick has publicly admired his brother''s convictions while privately criticizing his choices.'