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Songs Among the Ruins: The Collected Prose

Ian Hamilton

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This is the definitive, collected prose of Ian Hamilton (1938-2001): editor, poet, biographer and literary giant. Responsible for the creation of the influential poetry magazine, the Review, in the 1960s, Hamilton was also renowned for his biographical work on Robert Lowell and important literary studies which formed an integral part of the critical landscape throughout the latter half of the twentieth century.

In a career spanning more than four decades, Hamilton produced several hundred articles, reviews and essays, which have never been collated into one, definitive volume, until now.

Curated with the help of Hamilton's son, Matthew, Along the Razor's Edge is a testament to the writer's uniquely intelligent prose.

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Praise for Songs Among the Ruins: The Collected Prose

  • He was the best prose writer of his generation - Clive JamesStylish, gritty, often hilarious . . . glitters with insights - Sunday TimesHamilton quotes a remark of Ford Madox Ford's: "a limpidity of expression that should make prose seem like the sound of someone talking in rather a low voice into the ear of the person that he liked" - and you could fit that to Hamilton, too. - GuardianIan Hamilton, that ace writer - GuardianThe greatest literary critic of his generation . . . His criticism always pointed you towards all that he could find that was true in a piece of writing. The chance to eavesdrop on this cool and charged attention remains thrilling. - ObserverIs any other reviewer so effectively economical, so convincing? - Daily TelegraphLike a hallmark of excellence, to see Hamilton's name on the cover of a literary paper always meant that at least there was something worth reading in it - Times Literary Supplement

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Ian Hamilton

Ian Hamilton

Ian Hamilton has been a journalist, a senior executive with the federal government, a diplomat and a businessman with international links. He has written for several magazines and newspapers in Canada and the US.

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