Michael Henderson on Radio

Maconie’s Priestley calling

HOW THE LAUDED ONES FALL from favour is a mystery. It seems only the day before yesterday that Kingsley Amis and Iris Murdoch were accorded an honoured place in our literary life. Now they have dropped off fashion’s cliff, though it’s always wise to remember what Tom Courtenay said of fashion, “When you see who is considered to be ‘in’, it’s such a relief to be out.” For three decades after the publication of The Good Companions in 1929, Jolly Jack Priestley was an unignorable presence. These days his novels are read by few, and the only play anyone cares to revive is An Inspector Calls. So it was a bright idea of Stuart Maconie, one of Radio 4’s favoured humming-birds, to ask “Whatever Became of JB Priestley?” FIRST, HE…

You're reading a preview of

The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2023

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.