BLOKES: THE BAD BOYS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. by Castronovo, David - 2009

New York: Continuum, 2009. 197 pp, large 8vo (9 3/16" H). "They came from unpromising places and unglamorous backgrounds. They crashed the Establishment party in one generation, raided the citadels of culture, and brought their idioms, themes, and passions to the center of British life. The blokes were writers who revitalized British drama, fiction, poetry, and criticism. This is the story, told in a series of profiles, of New Britannia. The cast of characters includes playwrights John Osborne and Arnold Wesker, novelist Kingsley Amis, critic Kenneth Tynan, poet Philip Larkin, fiction writer Alan Sillitoe, plus lesser-known figures such as John Braine, David Storey, Stan Barstow, and Keith Waterhouse - up to more contemporary writers like Martin Amis and Nick Hornby. The central idea of this book is how these writers, and others, transformed British heritage - how they worked with the materials of their own backgrounds, the class system, tradition, and artistic convention to make new art. They took their place in a long line of writers who thrived on grit: Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Bernard Shaw, D.H. Lawrence. (It) is an entertaining and insightful survey of a group of disparate writers who had a profound and enduring impact upon British literary culture." Very light rubbing on boards, very light wrinkling at top/bottom of spine. Dust jacket has minor wear/wrinkling at top/bottom of spine and flap-folds, tiny tear at top of rear flap-fold, minor rubbing. . Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good.