{"product_id":"william-golding-john-carey-9781501100185","title":"William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn 1953, William Golding was a provincial schoolteacher writing books on his breaks, lunch hours and holidays.\u003c\/b\u003e His work had been rejected by every major publisher--until an editor at Faber and Faber pulled his manuscript off the rejection pile. This was to become \u003ci\u003eLord of the Flies, \u003c\/i\u003ea book that would sell in the millions and bring Golding worldwide recognition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGolding went on to become one of the most popular and influential British authors to have emerged since World War II. He received the Booker Prize for the novel \u003ci\u003eRites of Passage \u003c\/i\u003ein 1980, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. Stephen King has stated that the Castle Rock in \u003ci\u003eLord of the Flies \u003c\/i\u003econtinues to inspire him, so much so that he named his entertainment company after it and has placed the Golding novel prominently in his novels \u003ci\u003eHearts in Atlantis \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCujo\u003c\/i\u003e. Golding has been called a British Vonnegut--disheveled and darkly humorous, perverse when it would have been easier to be bitter, bitter when it would have been easier to be lazy, sometimes more disturbing than he is palatable and above all fascinating beyond measure. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet despite the fame and acclaim, the renowned author saw himself as a monster--a reclusive depressive ruled by his fears and a man who battled alcoholism throughout his life. In addition to being a schoolteacher, Golding was a scientist, a sailor and a poet before becoming a bestselling author, and his embitterment and alienation, his family, the women in his past, along with his experiences in the war, inform his work. This is the first book to unpack the life and character of a man whose entire \u003ci\u003eoeuvre \u003c\/i\u003edealt with the conflict between light and dark in the human soul, tracing the defects of society back to the defects of human nature itself. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing almost entirely on materials that have never before been made public, John Carey sheds new light on Golding. Through his exclusive access to Golding's family, Carey uses hundreds of letters, unpublished works and Golding's intimate journals to draw a revelatory and definitive portrait. An acclaimed critic, Carey enriches crucially our appreciation of the literary work of Golding, bringing us, as the best literary biographies do, back to the books. And with equal parts lyricism and driving emotion, Carey brings to light a life that is extraordinary to the point of transcendent and a writer who trusted the imagination above all things.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Carey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1501100181\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781501100185\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Free Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/27\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 592\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.10w x 1.70d","brand":"John Carey","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43935183831295,"sku":"9781501100185","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_f24e7092-daa9-406c-9b11-d995c29ae712.jpg?v=1681418341","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/william-golding-john-carey-9781501100185","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}