Taking its title from T.S. Eliot's modernist poem The Waste Land, Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust is a chronicle of Britain's decadence and social disintegration between the First and Second World Wars. This Penguin Modern Classics edition is edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Murray Davis. After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars. This breakdown of the Last marriage is a painful, comic re-working of Waugh's own divorce, and a symbol of the disintegration of society. If you enjouyed A Handful of Dust, you might like Waugh's Vile Bodies, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'One of the twentieth century's most chilling and bitter novels; and one of its best' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian 'One of the most distinguished novels of the century' Frank Kermode 'This is a masterpiece of stylish satire, and is funny, too ... a marvellous book' John Banville, Irish Times
Taking its title from T.S. Eliot's modernist poem The Waste Land, Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust is a chronicle of Britain's decadence and social disintegration between the First and Second World Wars. This Penguin Modern Classics edition is edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Murray Davis. After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars. This breakdown of the Last marriage is a painful, comic re-working of Waugh's own divorce, and a symbol of the disintegration of society. If you enjouyed A Handful of Dust, you might like Waugh's Vile Bodies, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'One of the twentieth century's most chilling and bitter novels; and one of its best' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian 'One of the most distinguished novels of the century' Frank Kermode 'This is a masterpiece of stylish satire, and is funny, too ... a marvellous book' John Banville, Irish Times
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Find A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
6 books in catalog
Twentieth-century British satire and social commentary reached some of its sharpest expression in comic fiction that dismantled interwar high society and wartime aristocracy, most famously in the 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited. English author Evelyn Waugh built a distinct body of work that ranged from biting early satires to serious, polished mid-century fiction and biographical studies.
Born in Hampstead, London, in October 1903, Waugh was the second son of publisher Arthur Waugh and his wife Catherine. He grew up in a literary household alongside his elder brother Alec, who achieved early success as a novelist. Waugh attended Lancing College and went on to study history at Hertford College, Oxford, leaving with an undistinguished third-class degree. Before establishing himself as a full-time author, he briefly worked as an art student, schoolmaster, and carpenter, while also writing short essays, journalism, and book reviews.
Waugh published his first book-length biography, Rossetti: His Life and Works, in 1928, followed that same year by his celebrated debut novel, Decline and Fall, which drew on his experiences teaching in private schools. Over the next decade, he traveled widely as a journalist while producing acclaimed satirical works including Vile Bodies and A Handful of Dust. During World War II, his writing assumed a more serious tone, culminating in Brideshead Revisited in 1945 and his post-war military trilogy Sword of Honour, published between 1952 and 1961. He also published notable biographical works, including Edmund Campion: Jesuit and Martyr in 1935 and The Life of the Right Reverend Ronald Knox in 1959, before his death in Somerset in 1966.
Waugh's writing style is defined by precise prose, traditional narrative framing, and an uncompromising satirical perspective on modern society. While working alongside the era of modernist innovation, Waugh eschewed formal experimentalism in favor of tightly constructed plots and meticulously chosen phrasing. His early works lampooned the recklessness and moral decline of interwar social elites, whereas his later fiction reflected a deeply serious engagement with Catholic theology, traditional values, and spiritual grace.
6 books in catalog
Twentieth-century British satire and social commentary reached some of its sharpest expression in comic fiction that dismantled interwar high society and wartime aristocracy, most famously in the 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited. English author Evelyn Waugh built a distinct body of work that ranged from biting early satires to serious, polished mid-century fiction and biographical studies.
Born in Hampstead, London, in October 1903, Waugh was the second son of publisher Arthur Waugh and his wife Catherine. He grew up in a literary household alongside his elder brother Alec, who achieved early success as a novelist. Waugh attended Lancing College and went on to study history at Hertford College, Oxford, leaving with an undistinguished third-class degree. Before establishing himself as a full-time author, he briefly worked as an art student, schoolmaster, and carpenter, while also writing short essays, journalism, and book reviews.
Waugh published his first book-length biography, Rossetti: His Life and Works, in 1928, followed that same year by his celebrated debut novel, Decline and Fall, which drew on his experiences teaching in private schools. Over the next decade, he traveled widely as a journalist while producing acclaimed satirical works including Vile Bodies and A Handful of Dust. During World War II, his writing assumed a more serious tone, culminating in Brideshead Revisited in 1945 and his post-war military trilogy Sword of Honour, published between 1952 and 1961. He also published notable biographical works, including Edmund Campion: Jesuit and Martyr in 1935 and The Life of the Right Reverend Ronald Knox in 1959, before his death in Somerset in 1966.
Waugh's writing style is defined by precise prose, traditional narrative framing, and an uncompromising satirical perspective on modern society. While working alongside the era of modernist innovation, Waugh eschewed formal experimentalism in favor of tightly constructed plots and meticulously chosen phrasing. His early works lampooned the recklessness and moral decline of interwar social elites, whereas his later fiction reflected a deeply serious engagement with Catholic theology, traditional values, and spiritual grace.
