Reviews of Anthony Powell by Hilary Spurling

The following is a list of reviews of Hilary Spurling’s biography of Anthony Powell which were issued in the UK or the USA; there may be others. Many of them can be found online. They are listed in approximate order of publication.

John Carey, Sunday Times, 24 September 2017, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anthony-powell-dancing-music-time-hilary-spurling-review-333h5jgww  [paywall]

Claire Messud, Guardian, 25 September 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/28/anthony-powell-dancing-music-time-review

Lara Feigel, Financial Times, 29 September 2017, https://www.ft.com/content/ed471018-a1f9-11e7-8d56-98a09be71849  [paywall]

Philip Hensher, Spectator, 30 September 2017

Laura Freeman, Standpoint, 1 October 2017

Jeremy Treglown, Literary Review, 1 October 2017, https://literaryreview.co.uk/questions-of-upbringing

Robert McCrum, Observer, 1 October 2017

Anonymous, Private Eye, 6 October 2017 (later acknowledged by DJ Taylor)

DJ Taylor, Times, 7 October 2017, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/review-anthony-powell-dancing-to-the-music-of-time-by-hilary-spurling-xnxkptqqc [paywall]

Nicholas Shakespeare, Daily Telegraph, 7 October 2017, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/anthony-powell-dancing-music-time-hilary-spurling-review

Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday, 8 October 2017, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-4951664/Anthony-Powell-Hilary-Spurling-review.html

Lucy Hughes-Hallett, New Statesman, 8 October 2017, https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2017/10/dancing-music-time-intriguing-and-elusive-anthony-powell

Kieran Fagan, Irish Times, 14 October 2017, https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/anthony-powell-dancing-to-the-music-of-time-review-1.3249814

Rachel Billington, The Tablet, 19 October 2017

Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Daily Mail, 19 October 2017, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-4998256/Anthony-Powell-discovered-life-DOES-begin-50.html

The Week, 21 October 2017 (summary of other reviews)

Jane Shilling, Evening Standard (London), 26 October 2017

BBC Radio 4, Book of the Week, October-November 2017, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09dh7pj

Selina Hastings, The Oldie, 1 November 2017, https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/dance-master

Colin Donald, Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 12 November 2017, https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/15655928.hilary-spurling-spells-out-how-odd-and-alienating-powells-upbringing-was-colin-donald-on-anthony-powell-dancing

Robert Low, Standpoint, 27 November 2017

AN Wilson, Times Literary Supplement, 29 November 2017, https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/anthony-powell-temporary-king/

Stephen Halliday, Times Higher Education, 30 November 2017, https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/reviews-what-are-you-reading-30-november-2017 [paywall]

Colin Donald, Anthony Powell Newsletter, No. 69, Winter 2017, https://anthonypowell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/nl69.pdf

Michael Barber, Anthony Powell Newsletter, No. 69, Winter 2017, https://anthonypowell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/nl69.pdf

Nicholas Birns, Anthony Powell Newsletter, No. 69, Winter 2017, https://anthonypowell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/nl69.pdf

Jeffrey Manley, Anthony Powell Newsletter, No. 69, Winter 2017, https://anthonypowell.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/nl69.pdf

Tim Adams, Observer, 7 December 2017 (Among Best Biographies of 2017), https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/03/best-biographies-of-2017-princess-margaret-gordon-brown-hillary-armistead-maupin-claire-tomalin

Folly Gleeson, Newtown Review of Books, 7 December 2017, http://newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/hilary-spurling-anthony-powell-dancing-music-time-reviewed-folly-gleeson/

John Preston, Daily Mail, 21 December 2017, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-5202551/BIOGRAPHIES.html

Jeffrey Manley, Evelyn Waugh Studies, No. 48.3, Winter 2017

David Pryce-Jones, New Criterion, 1 January 2018, https://www.newcriterion.com/issues/2018/1/he-kept-the-ball-rolling

Fatema Ahmed, Prospect, 1 January 2018, https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/anthony-powell-was-a-beady-observer-of-his-own-caste

Brian McFarlane, Australian Book Review, January-February 2018, https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/archive/2018/216-january-february-2018-no-398/4537-brian-mcfarlane-reviews-anthony-powell-dancing-to-the-music-of-time-by-hilary-spurling

Derek Turner, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, 11 January 2018, http://www.derek-turner.com/2018/09/27/times-terpsichorean-review-of-anthony-powell-by-hilary-spurling/

Mark McGinness, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 2018, https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/anthony-powell-review-hilary-spurlings-life-of-the-great-english-novelist-20180306-h0x3dz.html

William H. Pritchard, The Hudson Review, Spring 2018, https://www.jstor.org/stable/30044714

A W Purdue, Times Higher Education, 10 May 2018, https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-are-you-reading-10-may-2018 [paywall]

Max Hastings, New York Review of Books, 19 July 2018, https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/07/19/anthony-powell-yesterdays-parties/

Perry Anderson, London Review of Books, 19 July 2018

Kirkus Review, 15 September 2018, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hilary-spurling/anthony-powell-spurling/

Publishers Weekly, 17 September 2018, https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-525-52134-1

James Baresel, University Bookman: The Russell Kirk Center, 30 September 2018, https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/the-life-behind-the-dance/

Jane Shilling, Daily Mail, 4 October 2018 (Penguin paperback), https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-6240815/MUST-READS.html

Lorna Koski, WWD, 10 October 2018, https://wwd.com/eye/people/hilary-spurling-takes-on-anthony-powell-1202868737/

John Banville, New Republic, 17 October 2018, https://newrepublic.com/article/151605/anthony-powell-book-review-john-banville

Christopher Sandford, Modern Age, Fall 2018, https://isi.org/intercollegiate-review/the-incomparable-anthony-powell/

Christopher Tayler, Harper’s Magazine, 1 November 2018, https://harpers.org/archive/2018/11/anthony-powell-dancing-to-the-music-of-time-hilary-spurling/

Michael Gorra, Wall Street Journal, 1 November 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/anthony-powell-dancing-to-the-music-of-time-review-lifes-mysterious-patterned-way-1541118272

Morris Hounion, Library Journal, 1 November 2018, https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=anthony-powell-dancing-to-the-music-of-time

Bill Ott, Booklist, 1 November 2018 (Editor’s Choice 2018 Biographies), https://www.booklistonline.com/Anthony-Powell-Dancing-to-the-Music-of-Time/pid=9709138

Charles McGrath, New Yorker, 12 November 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/12/how-anthony-powell-wrote-his-twelve-volume-masterpiece

Carl Rollyson, The Weekly Standard, 19 November 2018

Dwight Garner, New York Times, 20 November 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/books/review/hilary-spurling-anthony-powell.html

Claire Hopley, Washington Times, 20 November 2018, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/20/book-review-anthony-powell-by-hilary-spurling/ [paywall]

Sylvia Brownrigg, Los Angeles Review of Books, 22 November 2018, https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-proust-of-ones-own-anthony-powells-20th-century/

Alan Riding, New York Times Book Review, 2 December 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/books/review/hilary-spurling-anthony-powell.html

Douglas Murray, National Review, 3 December 2018, https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/12/03/dance-to-the-music-of-time-book-review/

Paddy Kehoe, RTE, 5 December 2018 (Penguin paperback), https://www.rte.ie/culture/reviews/2018/1129/1014169-reviewed-anthony-powell-by-hilary-spurling/

Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 14 December 2018

Ed Park, Bookforum, December/January 2018/19, https://www.bookforum.com/print/2504/a-new-biography-of-anthony-powell-20427

Adam Kirsch, Sewanee Review, Winter 2019, https://thesewaneereview.com/articles/steps-dance

Dave Williamson, Winnipeg Free Press, 19 January 2019 (Penguin paperback)

Roberta Silman, The Arts Fuse, 8 February 2019, https://artsfuse.org/180090/book-review-anthony-powell-the-most-modern-of-the-20th-century-english-writers/

Christopher de Bellaigue, The Nation, 11-18 February 2019

 

Hilary Spurling; Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time was published in London by Hamish Hamilton in October 2017 and in New York by Penguin/Random House in June 2018. Paperback editions have subsequently appeared.