The
Isherwood Century: Essays on the Life and Work of Christopher
Isherwood Edited with an Introduction by James J. Berg
and Chris Freeman; Armistead Maupin (Foreword)
Best known for Goodbye to Berlin—the
inspiration for the Tony and Oscar award-winning musical
Cabaret—Christopher Isherwood has always been considered both a
literary and a gay pioneer. That is truer now than ever. Readers
of his plays, novels, and diaries continue to discover Isherwood's
lasting contribution to literature, autobiographical fiction, and
memoir, to gay rights and to twentieth-century culture.
In The Isherwood Century, editors James
J. Berg and Chris Freeman have gathered twenty-four essays and
interviews on Christopher Isherwood's life and work. The volume,
the first of its kind on Isherwood, offers a fresh, in-depth view
of the author, his literary legacy, and his continuing influence.
Mixing critiques with personal reminiscences, The Isherwood
Century includes an essay and drawings by artist Don
Bachardy, Isherwood's longtime partner; recollections from
celebrated authors Armistead Maupin and Edmund White; and moving
memoirs by preeminent scholar Carolyn Heilbrun and noted poet
Michael S. Harper. Two interviews are also published here for the
first time: an interview with Isherwood conducted by Carola M.
Kaplan in 1973 and Niladri Chatterjee's 1997 conversation with Don
Bachardy.
