No Media

This item doesn’t have any media yet

A Handful of Dust

2000 | Fiction & Poetry

Taking its title from T.S. Eliot's modernist poem The Waste Land, Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust is a chronicle of Britain's decadence and social disintegration between the First and Second World Wars. This Penguin Modern Classics edition is edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Murray Davis. After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars. This breakdown of the Last marriage is a painful, comic re-working of Waugh's own divorce, and a symbol of the disintegration of society. If you enjouyed A Handful of Dust, you might like Waugh's Vile Bodies, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'One of the twentieth century's most chilling and bitter novels; and one of its best' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian 'One of the most distinguished novels of the century' Frank Kermode 'This is a masterpiece of stylish satire, and is funny, too ...a marvellous book' John Banville, Irish Times



Published by Penguin Books Ltd

Edition Unknown
ISBN 9780316926058
Language English

Images And Data Courtesy Of: Penguin Books Ltd.
This content (including text, images, videos and other media) is published and used in accordance with Fair Use.

A Handful of Dust Reviews & Ratings (2)
9-10
100.0% (2)
7-8
0.0% (0)
5-6
0.0% (0)
3-4
0.0% (0)
1-2
0.0% (0)

Post Type

Hidden Post

Archived Post

A Handful of Dust reviews from people you don't follow
40x40

Tom Stoppard recommended (curated)

 
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
Evelyn Waugh, Robert Murray Davis | 2000 | Fiction & Poetry
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Favorite
  
40x40

Jay McInerney recommended (curated)

 
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
Evelyn Waugh, Robert Murray Davis | 2000 | Fiction & Poetry
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"This novel shows all of Waugh’s gifts for satire and farce, but unlike his earlier novels, it has a three-dimensional, tragic protagonist in aristocratic cuckold Tony Last."

Source
  
40x40

Danzy Senna recommended (curated)

 
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
Evelyn Waugh, Robert Murray Davis | 2000 | Fiction & Poetry
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Favorite
  
40x40

Larry Kramer recommended (curated)

 
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
Evelyn Waugh, Robert Murray Davis | 2000 | Fiction & Poetry
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Waugh, along with P. G. Wodehouse, was one the greatest users of the English language. Both men just loved words and how to use them to their unusually best advantage. Anyone trying to master the English language would do well to study either one. Any of Waugh’s novels is impressive, but this one may be the best."

Source