Loitering With Intent

This extremely clever novel sees life imitating art and art imitating life.

Art, reality and the strange ways the two imitate one another are at the core of Muriel Spark's delightful Loitering with Intent, first published in 1981.

Would-be novelist Fleur Talbot works for the snooty, irascible Sir Quentin Oliver at the Autobiographical Association, whose members are all at work on their memoirs. When her employer gets his hands on Fleur's novel-in-progress, mayhem ensues when its scenes begin coming true. Generating hilarious turns of phrase and larger-than-life characters (especially Sir Quentin's batty mother), Sparks's inimitable style make this literary joyride thoroughly appealing.

“Unflagging wit and inventiveness”

The most gloriously entertaining novel since THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE - A.N. Wilson, SPECTATOR

I read this book in a delirium of delight...robust and full-bodied, a wise and mature work, and a brilliantly mischievous one - NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

- TIME MAGAZINE

This is Muriel Spark in the splendid form of those marvellous and influential novels of her earlier career - THE TIMES

The most gloriously entertaining novel since THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE - A.N. Wilson, SPECTATOR

I read this book in a delirium of delight...robust and full-bodied, a wise and mature work, and a brilliantly mischievous one - NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

- TIME MAGAZINE

This is Muriel Spark in the splendid form of those marvellous and influential novels of her earlier career - THE TIMES

Born in Edinburgh, Muriel Spark was internationally famous and received the Italia Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the FNAC Prix Etranger and the Saltire Prize, among many others. She was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1978 and to L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 1988. She died in April 2006.

Author Location: deceased

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Symposium (978 1 84408 247 6), Memento Mori, The Ballad of Peckham Rye, A Far Cry from Kensington and more

This extremely clever novel sees life imitating art and art imitating life.Art, reality and the strange ways the two imitate one another are at the core of Muriel Spark's delightful Loitering with Intent, first published in 1981.Would-be novelist Fleur Talbot works for the snooty, irascible Sir Quentin Oliver at the Autobiographical Association, whose members are all at work on their memoirs. When her employer gets his hands on Fleur's novel-in-progress, mayhem ensues when its scenes begin coming true. Generating hilarious turns of phrase and larger-than-life characters (especially Sir Quentin's batty mother), Sparks's inimitable style make this literary joyride thoroughly appealing.

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