This collection largely comprises book reviews and also features personal and philosophical essays published here for the first time. British experimental novelist Mosley (Hopeful Monsters
) writes trenchantly on Nietzsche, Russell, Keynes, Trotsky, Andrei Sakharov, Freud and R.D. Laing in reviews of biographical studies that display his characteristically quirky and independent thought. Demonstrating his interest in formalism and his openness to international literature, Mosley shows acute appreciation of Faulkner, Patrick White, Calvino and Nabokov. Mosley's engagement with overcoming his legacy as the son of the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley is well known. In a section of reviews entitled "Pathology and Sanity," he displays striking analytical seriousness on such topics as anti-Semitism, Israel, Himmler, Bruno Bettelheim and apartheid. In a fascinating essay describing his emotional confrontation with his father, who twice attached himself to nationalistic movements that relied heavily on racism, Mosley draws a razor sharp portrait of the "trap" of his father's political idealism. Similarly, when writing about his own stammering, Mosley brings thoughtfulness and a bristling intellect to bear. His writing about his Christian faith is similarly alert and persuasive. A keen advocate of reading the Bible straight through, Mosley is alive to its metaphorical complexity as a work of art. Six previously unpublished essays grapple critically and mystically with a modern age intent on bringing all mystery to light. This collection will satisfy admirers of Mosley's work and will greatly enhance readers' understanding of his formally daring and deeply metaphysical art. (June 15)
