{"product_id":"philip-larkin-letters-home-paperback","title":"Philip Larkin: Letters Home - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePhilip Larkin\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe last outstanding unpublished facet of Larkin's writing life: his correspondence 'home' to his father, mother and sister. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eLetters Home\u003c\/i\u003e helps tell the story of how Larkin came to be the writer and the man he was: to his father Sydney, a 'conservative anarchist' and admirer of Hitler, who died relatively early in Larkin's life; to his timid, depressive mother Eva, who by contrast lived long, and whose final years were shadowed by dementia; and to his sister Kitty, the sparse surviving fragment of whose correspondence with her brother gives an enigmatic glimpse of a complex and intimate relationship. In particular, it was the years during which he and his sister looked after their mother that shaped the writer we know so well: a number of poems written over this time are for her, and the mood of pain, shadow and despondency that characterises his later verse draws its strength from his experience of the long, lonely years of her senility. One surprising element in the volume, however, is the joie de vivre shown in the large number of witty and engaging drawings of himself and Eva, as 'Young Creature' and 'Old Creature', with which he enlivens his letters throughout the three decades of her widowhood. This important edition, meticulously edited by James Booth is a key piece of scholarship that completes the portrait of this most cherished of English poets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhilip Larkin\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Coventry in 1922. As well as his volumes of poems, which include \u003ci\u003eThe Less Deceived\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Whitsun Weddings\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHigh Windows\u003c\/i\u003e, he wrote two novels, \u003ci\u003eJill\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Girl in Winter\u003c\/i\u003e, and two books of collected journalism: \u003ci\u003eAll What Jazz: A Record Diary\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRequired Writing: Miscellaneous Prose\u003c\/i\u003e. He worked as a librarian at the University of Hull from 1955 until his death in 1985. He was the best-loved poet of his generation, and the recipient of innumerable honours, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and the WH Smith Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 688\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.7 x 9.2 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 14, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53739069145452,"sku":"9780571335602","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/3019\/6844\/files\/eeca2772b8dafa5f81f6bcf8f1abe6b8.webp?v=1778451278","url":"https:\/\/pattansenterprise.com\/products\/philip-larkin-letters-home-paperback","provider":"Pattansenterprise","version":"1.0","type":"link"}