On Wheels

A charming book…elegantly written – Alexei Sayle * Telegraph *Holroyd’s elegant little essays are a pleasure to read…these are witty, quotable jeux d’esprit – Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *A great Christmas present for those hurtling towards their driving test… A subtle delight * The Lady *Jolly, illustrated salute to the cars in his own life and the lives he has biographised in a long literary career. Lovely. Toot! Toot! – Iain Finlayson * The Times *A delightful memoir-cum-social history which is wry, self-deprecating and anything but stuffy… his elegant musings provide an ideal festive pick-me-up, compact enough to fit in a stocking, and packing enough pep to burn any rival off the road – Andrew Lycett * Sunday Telegraph *Michael Holroyd, esteemed and genial doyen of literary biographers, has wheels. Decades of dedication to literature and the life of the mind have at least raised his consciousness to the level at which he discerns the shaping presence of motorism in his own life and those of his biographical subjects… I can only rejoice – Alan Judd * Literary Review *A companionable book, made to be raced through in one sitting – Gemma Kapalla-Ramsamy * Observer *This is a great little addition to his existing volumes of memoir – Katie Law * Evening Standard *

Michael Holroyd has written biographies of Augustus John, Bernard Shaw and Lytton Strachey (which was filmed as Carrington). He has also written two volumes of memoirs, Basil Street Blues and Mosaic. A Strange Eventful History won the James Tait Black Prize, and was a biography of two great theatrical dynasties which included Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, and her son Edward Gordon Craig. His most recent book, A Book of Secrets, combined memoir with biographies of a number of notable women. He has been president of the Royal Society of Literature and is the first non-fiction writer to have been awarded the British Literature Prize. He lives in London and Somerset with his wife, the novelist Margaret Drabble.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.