
Evelyn Waughs acidly funny & formally daring satire Vile Bodies" reveals the darkness & vulnerability that lurks beneath the glittering surface of the high life. This " Penguin Modern Classics" edition is edited with an introduction & notes by Richard Jacobs. In the years following the First World War a new generation emerges wistful & vulnerable beneath the glitter. " The Bright Young Things" of twenties Mayfair with their paradoxical mix of innocence & sophistication exercise their inventive minds & vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade
- whether promiscuity dancing cocktail parties or sports cars. In a quest for treasure a favourite party occupation a vivid assortment of characters among them the struggling writer Adam Fenwick-Symes & the glamorous aristocratic Nina Blount hunt fast & furiously for ever greater sensations & the fulfilment of unconscious desires. Evelyn Waugh (1903-66) was born in Hampstead second son of Arthur Waugh publisher & literary critic & brother of Alec Waugh the popular novelist. In 1928 he published his first work a life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti & his first novel " Decline & Fall" which was soon followed by " Vile Bodies" (1930) "A Handful of Dust" (1934) & " Scoop" (1938). In 1942 he published " Put Out More Flags" & then in 1945 " Brideshead Revisited". " Men at Arms" (1952) was the first volume of " The Sword of Honour" trilogy & won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; the other volumes " Officers & Gentlemen" & " Unconditional Surrender" followed in 1955 & 1961. If you enjoyed " Vile Bodies" you might like Waughs "A Handful of Dust" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". " The high point of the experimental original Waugh". (Malcolm Bradbury " Sunday Times"). " This brilliantly funny anxious & resonant novel.. .the difficult edgy guide to the turn of the decade". (Richard Jacobs). " Its Britains Great Gatsby". (Stephen Fry director of " Vile Bodies" film adaptation " Bright Young Things")."