BIBLIO is the largest independent book marketplace in the world, with over 100 million books.

Skip to content

Life Is a Four Letter Word
Stock photo: cover may vary

Life Is a Four Letter Word Paperback - 2001

by Nicholas Monsarratt

Add to wish list

Reader reviews for Life Is a Four Letter Word

Write a review for this book

There are no reviews for this book yet. Be the first to write a review!

Your review will be anonymous unless you login or create an account first.

Overall rating
Remember: You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the condition of the specific copy you purchased!

Important Terms and Guidelines

  • Please focus on the book’s content and context. Also, add any personal comments as to how you enjoyed the book. Substantiate your likes and dislikes. You may make comparisons to other books.
  • Reviews must be at least 140 characters in length.
  • Please do not reveal critical plot elements.
  • This is not a help line. Contact customer support if you need help.
Your review must not include:
  • Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other insulting language not suitable for public domain
  • Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers or websites.
  • Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other contact information.
  • Overly critical comments about other reviews or reviewers
  • Time-sensitive material (i.e. promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
  • Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information

From the publisher

The first part of the autobiography, "Breaking In," is of one of the most successful writers of the twentieth century, Nicholas Monsarrat. Monsarrat describes his privileged childhood in Liverpool, where his father was the greatest surgeon of his time, recalling all the small details of a provincial upbringing. The account of his days at public school are acidly described, and in remarkable contrast to his golden days at Cambridge, where he enjoyed good friends, good wine, and little work. At twenty-three, Monsarrat turned his back on his comfortable family home, fled from the desk of his uncle's solicitor's office, and settled in a single, mildewed room in London, with a typewriter and a half-finished manuscript. There, he describes the years of learning to write, learning to live, and learning to love--invaluable lessons for a future that comprised war, emigration, marital upheaval, and the hazards of artistic achievement. The second part, "Breaking Out," takes us to the year in which Monsarrat produced the novel widely acclaimed as his finest, "The Tribe That Lost Its Head"; the year when he was living in Ottawa as chief of the British Information Services; the year he calls The Year of the Stupid Ox. As Monsarrat charts life with astonishing frankness, we are given a stunning portrait of this complex character, this brilliant storyteller.

Details

  • Title Life Is a Four Letter Word
  • Author Nicholas Monsarratt
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition New edition
  • Pages 806
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher House of Stratus
  • Publication date April 2001
  • ISBN 9781842321485 / 184232148X
  • Category Nonfiction
  • Dewey Decimal Code 823

About the author

Nicholas Monsarrat was born in Liverpool and educated at Cambridge University, where he studied law. His career as a solicitor encountered a swift end when he decided to leave Liverpool for London, with a half-finished manuscript under his arm and only forty pounds in his pocket.
His first book to attract attention was the largely autobiographical 'This is the Schoolroom', which was concerned with the turbulent thirties, and a student at Cambridge who goes off to fight against the fascists in Spain only to discover that life itself is the real schoolroom.
During World War II he joined the Royal Navy and served in corvettes. His war experiences provided the framework for the novel 'HMS Marlborough will enter Harbour', which is one of his best known books, along with 'The Cruel Sea'. The latter was made into a classic film starring Jack Hawkins. Established as a top name writer, Monsarrat's career concluded with 'The Master Mariner', a historical novel of epic proportions the final part of which was both finished (using his notes) and published posthumously.
Well known for his concise story telling and tense narrative on a wide range of subjects, although nonetheless famous for those connected with the sea and war, he became one of the most successful novelists of the twentieth century, whose rich and varied collection bears the hallmarks of a truly gifted writer.
The Daily Telegraph summed him up thus: 'A professional who gives us our money's worth. The entertainment value is high'.

Please wait a moment while we load the requested page.