Holiday reads by the recently departed

John Self

FOR THIS YEAR’S HOLIDAY READING special — where The Critic suggests some older fiction that might more profitably fill your beach-y or gîte-y afternoons than the latest screamers from the bestseller lists — the theme is, well, death in summer. We offer you the best-known novels by three writers who died, in reputationally-reduced circumstances, in 2023. As an aside, all three novels were published in the early 1980s, and show the range of that decade in British fiction. “You’ve got to stand the test of time,” said Martin Amis, “which is the only test there is.” The test begins now. He also identified what he called the “talent novel” — the book the serious writer delivers, early in their career, which shows they offer more than mere promise. Money (1984)…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, August - September 2023

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