Other works by Francis Wheen
Francis Wheen’s biography of Marx is an international best-seller, translated into more than twenty languages – prompting the Independent to ask: ‘Why is Karl Marx even more popular than Harry Potter?’
‘I’ll read anything by Francis Wheen, even a biography of Karl Marx, and my trust was not misplaced: the simple elegance of the writing, and Wheen’s ability to winkle humour out of the most unpromising subject, results in a book which is far more pleasurable than anyone had the right to expect.’ Nick Hornby, Guardian
Tom Driberg was one of the most flamboyant British politicians of modern times, whose friends included Evelyn Waugh, Mick Jagger, W.H. Auden and the Kray twins. Francis Wheen’s classic biography describes a career that shattered almost every convention of polite society.
‘Wheen chronicles this … rake’s progress with Hogarthian zest, exposing in the process a whole hidden layer of English life.’ Piers Brendon, Mail on Sunday.
The gloriously bizarre tale of a conman extraordinaire, whose life of deception culminated in his most outrageous performance of all – as a female philosopher who claimed to have made the greatest intellectual breakthrough since Charles Darwin.
‘A mad, creepy tale told with Francis Wheen’s characteristic dry and brilliant wit.’ Roger Lewis, Daily Express
This sparkling collection of essays and articles by Francis Wheen won the George Orwell prize in 2003.
‘This is a writer who can dispatch an argument with the flick of a wrist, who can get humour to do in one well-timed movement what others labour over fifty pages to achieve. This is someone who seeks not just to entertain you, or even persuade you, but urgently to enlighten you by the means of his learning as well as his conviction.’ David Hare