Little Wilson and Big God

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Little Wilson and Big God (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

On the bleak day in 1959 when Anthony Burgess learned that he had an inoperable brain tumor and had, at the most, a year to live, he thought back over his life. He was a thwarted composer, had spent six years in the army and three years teaching in Malaya. He had saved little, and he wanted to provide for his wife, Lynne. His best chance to do this, he judged, was by writing fiction. Certainly his varied background had provided him with enough material.

This first of two projected autobiographical volumes takes the reader up to the point at which Burgess becomes a writer. It traces his childhood, his moves from one relation to another (his mother and sister had died of influenza when he was an infant). The relatives who cared for him are caricatures, most of whom have already been fictionalized in his novels.

LITTLE WILSON AND BIG GOD is virtually a Bildungsroman, although it follows the main character well into adulthood. Burgess presents his heterodox views of conventional morality. He and his wife never demanded marital fidelity of each other because, with so many attractive people around, it seemed to them a waste not to see what others were like with their clothes off.

This book, mostly serious but partly whimsical, describes the genesis of a major author who, through his education, seemed to become less and less employable but who was moving relentlessly toward his true profession, writing, in which he finally found a way to merge all of his disparate experiences and interests.

Bibliography

Aggeler, Geoffrey. Anthony Burgess: The Artist as Novelist, 1979.

Aggeler, Geoffrey. Critical Essays on Anthony Burgess, 1986.

Boytinck, Paul. Anthony Burgess: An Annotated Bibliography and Reference Guide, 1985.

Boytinck, Paul. “Little Wilson and Big God,” in Queen’s Quarterly. XCV (Summer, 1988), pp. 448-450.

Coale, Samuel. Anthony Burgess, 1981.

Lodge, David. Review in The Times Literary Supplement. No. 4378. (February 27, 1987), pp. 203-204.

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