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Things I Don't Want to Know

A Response to George Orwell's Why I Write
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Things I Don't Want to Know by Deborah Levy is an introspective exploration of a writer's journey to find her voice amidst life's challenges and societal expectations. Influenced by George Orwell's essay "Why I Write," Levy reflects on personal experiences, emotions, and the political landscape that have shaped her as a writer. This book delicately balances the delicate interplay between personal struggles and broader cultural narratives.
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'Perhaps when Orwell described sheer egoism as a necessary quality for a writer, he was not thinking about the sheer egoism of a female writer. Even the most arrogant female writer has to work over time to build an ego that is robust enough to get her through January, never mind all the way to December.' Deborah Levy

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
Things I Don't Want to Know is a unique response to George Orwell from one of our most vital contemporary writers. Taking Orwell's famous list of motives for writing as the jumping-off point for a sequence of thrilling reflections on the writing life, this is a perfect companion not just to Orwell's essay, but also to Levy's own, essential oeuvre.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781907903632

Publisher: Notting Hill Editions

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 01 January 2013

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Notting Hill Editions

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 11.0mm

Width: 120.0mm

Height: 190.0mm

Weight: 164g

Pages: 116

About the Author

Deborah Levy trained at Dartington College of Arts, leaving in 1981 to write a number of plays, highly acclaimed for their "intellectual rigour, poetic fantasy and visual imagination". She wrote and published her first novel Beautiful Mutants, when she was 27 years old. The experience of not having to give her words to a director, actors and designer to interpret was so exhilarating, she wrote a few more. Her novel, Swimming Home, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012.

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