{"product_id":"conversations-with-christopher-isherwood-james-j-berg-9781578064083","title":"Conversations with Christopher Isherwood","description":"To many readers Christopher Isherwood means Berlin. The author of \u003ci\u003eGoodbye to Berlin\u003c\/i\u003e (1939), the British Isherwood found fame through the adaptation of that work into the stage play and film \u003ci\u003eI Am a Camera\u003c\/i\u003e and then into the stage musical and film \u003ci\u003eCabaret\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Throughout his career he was a keen observer, always seemingly in the right place at the right time. Whether in Berlin in the 1930s or in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s, Isherwood (1904-1986) reflected on his life and his world and wrote perceptive commentary on contemporary European and American history and culture. His ties to California made him more American than British. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"I have spent half my life in the United States,\" he said. \"Los Angeles is a great place for feeling at home because everybody's from someplace else.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Isherwood can be credited for helping make L.A. an acceptable setting for serious fiction, paving the way for John Rechy, Joan Didion, Paul Monette, and Bernard Cooper, among others. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The interviews in this volume--two of which have never before been published--stretch over a period of forty years. They address a wide range of topics, including the importance of diary-keeping to his life and work; the interplay between fiction and autobiography; his turning from Christianity to Hinduism; his circle of friends, including W. H. Auden, Aldous Huxley, and E. M. Forster; several important places in his life--Berlin, England, and California; and his homosexual identity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e These interviews are substantive, smart, and insightful, allowing the author to discuss his approach to writing of both fiction and nonfiction. \"More and more,\" he explains, \"writing is appearing to me as a kind of self-analysis, a finding-out of something about myself and about the past and about what life is like, as far as I'm concerned: who I am, who these people are, what it's all about.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This emphasis on self-discovery comes as no surprise from a writer who mined his own diaries and experiences for inspiration. As an interviewee, Isherwood is introspective, thoughtful, and humorous.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James J. Berg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1578064082\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781578064083\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Mississippi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/05\/2001\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 201\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.73lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.05h x 5.91w x 0.68d","brand":"James J. Berg","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46974619615487,"sku":"9781578064083","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d4406225-b7f4-48b9-baa7-7538e3f09193.jpg?v=1750875562","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/conversations-with-christopher-isherwood-james-j-berg-9781578064083","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}