The Same Man

George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh in love and war

David Lebedoff

'Orwell and Waugh may seem to have been opposites, but Lebedoff's well-told story of their endlessly fascinating lives highlights the things they shared.'

(Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review)

'Orwell's and Waugh's obvious political differences obscure some more compelling similarities. In may respects, they did, as Lebedoff contends, "leave us with a shared vision of their time".'

Baron Alder (Australian Literary Review)

'An insightful, witty, immensely readable account of two giants of English literature whose work, in very different ways, prefigured the moral and political dilemmas bedeviling our society today.'

Lynne Olson, author of Troublesome Young Men

For literature buffs and history enthusiasts, this is the first biography to compare George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh — two of the greatest 20th century English writers.

Both authors need little introduction. Orwell and Waugh were born in 1903, and there the resemblance seems (at first) to end. The savagely sarcastic Waugh was rich and famous in his twenties and a champion social climber who married into the aristocracy and became a country squire, a strict conservative and a devout Catholic. His life was a succession of parties with the most glamorous people of his generation. And in between his wild revels he managed to write peerless comic novels, and a great elegy to lost splendour, Brideshead Revisited. Orwell was a tall, gaunt man who dedicated his life to fighting the English class system. He fought Fascism in Spain and under conditions of severe adversity he wrote essays as great as any in the language. He died young, at 46, and left behind two of the most widely read books in all of literature, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Yet, all appearances to the contrary, the party-loving snob and the dour socialist were in many ways the same man. They were among the few of their peers who saw what the future – our time — would bring. And they hated it. Their lives were dedicated to warning us what was coming — a world of material wealth but few values, a pointless existence without tradition or community or common purposes; lives measured in dollars, not sense. The Same Man tells their parallel stories with warmth, humour, and a fresh eye towards the past and present.

'Evelyn Waugh and George Orwell exemplified the brilliance of British writing in the 20th century, but we usually think of them as very different men. David Lebedoff shows how they were, in fact, quite alike in their discomfort with the modern age. This is especially reassuring to those of us who admire both of these writers.'

Walter Issacson, author of Einstein: His Life and Universe

'For those wearied by doorstop biographies, this lean and urbane dual portrait is a breath of fresh air. As lawyer and writer Lebedoff makes clear, on the surface no two British writers could be more different ... Lebedoff nimbly compares and contrasts the lives and art of these literary titans.'

(Publisher's Weekly)

'The reputations and influence of both writers only increase, making Lebedoffs wonderfully sympathetic interpretation of them a book those interested in either or both must read and will, most probably, love.'

Ray Olson (Booklist)

'Lebedoff's unpretentious writing style...crackles with with and playfulness as well as ardent advocacy for these embattled twin prophets.... He laces his two brief biographies with sharp-edged details that brightly illuminate his subjects' innermost characters .... Brief and to the point, this thrillingly written study of two of the 20th century's great social icons will impel readers to return to their timeless works. Recommended for all libraries.'

(Library Journal)

'The Same Man places the work of these two literary giants cheek by jowl. Comparisons are riveting, but the conclusion is dire. For as we read Orwell and Waugh's prophetic warnings we cannot help a shiver of recognition. We have created a world they would have abhorred.'

Cristina Odone (The Times)

'enjoyable and provocative'

Jim Holt (The New York Times)

'This book is as ravishing as its brilliant subjects.'

Cheryl Jorgensen (Courier Mail)

David Lebedoff

David Lebedoff is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and the Harvard Law School, and is the author of five books, most recently of the prize-winning Cleaning Up, a riveting courtroom drama about the Exxon Valdez Case.

The_same_man_lr
Format: Pb
Extent: 272+8pp
Size: 210mm x 135mm
ISBN (13): 9781921372247
RRP: $29.95
Pub date: September 2008

Rights held:

ANZ