Most Popular Books by Edward St. Aubyn

Double Blind follows three close friends and their circle through a year of extraordinary transformation. Set inLondon, Cap d''Antibes, Big Sur, and a rewilded corner of Sussex, this thrilling, ambitious novel is about the headlong pursuit of knowledge—for the purposes of pleasure, revelation, money, sanity, or survival—and the consequences of fleeing from what we know about others and ourselves. When Olivia meets a new lover just as she is welcoming her best friend, Lucy, back from New York, her dedicated academic life expands precipitously. Her connection to Francis, a committed naturalist living off the grid, is immediate and startling. Eager to involve Lucy in her joy, Olivia introduces the two—but Lucy has received shocking news of her own that binds the trio unusually close. Over the months that follow, Lucy’s boss, Hunter, Olivia’s psychoanalyst parents, and a young man named Sebastian are pulled into the friends’ orbit, and not one of them will emerge unchanged. Expansive, playful, and compassionate, Edward St. Aubyn''s Double Blind investigates themes of inheritance, determinism, freedom, consciousness, and the stories we tell about ourselves. It is as compelling about ecology, psychoanalysis, genetics, and neuroscience as it is about love, fear, and courage. Most of all, it is a perfect expression of the interconnections it sets out to examine, and a moving evocation of an imagined world that is deeply intelligent, often tender, curious, and very much alive.

Now a 5-Part Limited Event Series on Showtime, Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Blythe Danner Never Mind , the first installment in Edward St. Aubyn''s wonderful, wry, and profound Patrick Melrose Cycle, follows five-year-old Patrick through a single day, as the Melrose family awaits the arrival of guests. Bright and imaginative, young Patrick struggles daily to contend with the searing cruelty of his father and the resignation of his embattled mother. But on this day he must endure an unprecedented horror—one that splits his world in two. In Never Mind, St. Aubyn renders this vivid tragedy with profound grace and precision, and introduces us to the unforgettable, complex figure of Patrick Melrose.

“A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes. . . . Like a long Monty Python sketch” from the author of the Patrick Melrose novels (Kirkus Reviews). Winner of the 2014 Wodehouse Prize “A withering satire . . . a deliciously irreverent novel.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post The judges on the panel of the Elysian Prize for Literature must get through hundreds of submissions to find the best book of the year. Meanwhile, a host of writers are desperate for Elysian attention: the brilliant writer and serial heartbreaker Katherine Burns; the lovelorn debut novelist Sam Black; and Bunjee, convinced that his magnum opus, The Mulberry Elephant, will take the literary world by storm. Things go terribly wrong when Katherine’s publisher accidentally submits a cookery book in place of her novel; one of the judges finds himself in the middle of a scandal; and Bunjee, aghast to learn his book isn’t on the short list, seeks revenge. Lost for Words is a witty, fabulously entertaining satire that cuts to the quick of some of the deepest questions about the place of art in our celebrity-obsessed culture, and asks how we can ever hope to recognize real talent when everyone has an agenda. “Lost for Words is . . . a satirical romp that showcases . . . [St. Aubyn’s] Waugh-like talent for comedy and his unsparing eye for people’s pretensions and self-delusions.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

NATIONAL BESTSELLER An Atlantic Magazine Best Book of the Year A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year "The Melrose Novels are a masterwork for the twenty-first century, written by one of the great prose stylists in England." —Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones Soon to be a Showtime TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Blythe Danner For more than twenty years, acclaimed author Edward St. Aubyn has chronicled the life of Patrick Melrose, painting an extraordinary portrait of the beleaguered and self-loathing world of privilege. This single volume collects the first four novels—Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, and Mother''s Milk, a Man Booker finalist—to coincide with the publication of At Last, the final installment of this unique novel cycle. By turns harrowing and hilarious, these beautifully written novels dissect the English upper class as we follow Patrick Melrose''s story from child abuse to heroin addiction and recovery. Never Mind, the first novel, unfolds over a day and an evening at the family''s chateaux in the south of France, where the sadistic and terrifying figure of David Melrose dominates the lives of his five-year-old son, Patrick, and his rich and unhappy American mother, Eleanor. From abuse to addiction, the second novel, Bad News opens as the twenty-two-year-old Patrick sets off to collect his father''s ashes from New York, where he will spend a drug-crazed twenty-four hours. And back in England, the third novel, Some Hope, offers a sober and clean Patrick the possibility of recovery. The fourth novel, the Booker-shortlisted Mother''s Milk, returns to the family chateau, where Patrick, now married and a father himself, struggles with child rearing, adultery, his mother''s desire for assisted suicide, and the loss of the family home to a New Age foundation. Edward St. Aubyn offers a window into a world of utter decadence, amorality, greed, snobbery, and cruelty—welcome to the declining British aristocracy.

Some Hope, the third installment in Edward St. Aubyn''s wonderful, wry, and profound Patrick Melrose Cycle, is centered on a dinner party, attended by the illustrious and profane elite of British society. Patrick, who is now thirty and trying to recover from his addictions, considers becoming a lawyer, having spent most of his inheritance and in need of a job. Some Hope sees Patrick interacting with the contemptible but always fascinating British aristocracy again, and discovering that there might indeed be some hope for him after all.

Set among the vertiginous contrasts of luxury and squalor which characterize New York City, this second volume of a trilogy is a harrowing but often funny portrait of obsessive drug use. It is the sequel to Never Mind, which won a Betty Trask Award.

"One of the most amazing reading experiences I''ve had in a decade. . . . [St Aubyn''s] great at dissecting an entire social world with a really wicked scalpel." —Michael Chabon, The Los Angeles Times Now a five-part Showtime series Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Blythe Danner For Patrick Melrose, "family" has always been a double-edged sword. At Last begins as friends, relatives, and foes trickle in to pay final respects to his mother, Eleanor. An American heiress, Eleanor married into the British aristocracy, giving up the grandeur of her upbringing for "good works" freely bestowed on everyone but her own son, who finds himself questioning whether his transition to a life without parents will indeed be the liberation he had so long imagined. The service ends, and family and friends gather for a final party. Amid the social niceties and social horrors, Patrick begins to sense the prospect of release from the extremes of his childhood, and at the end of the day, alone in his room, the promise some form of safety . . . at last. "Remarkable." —Francine Prose, The New York Times Book Review "It''s pretty much a lock to be one of the funniest, saddest, most beautiful books of the year." —Lev Grossman, Time "An intelligent and surprisingly hopeful novel, a fitting conclusion to one of the best fictional cycles in contemporary fiction." —Anthony Domestico, The Boston Globe "Delightfully packed with gross privilege, dysfunction, and savage humor." —Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn, The Paris Review "Stunning . . . Deeply affecting." —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal "Sparkling . . . With the wit of Wilde, the lightness of Wodehouse, and the waspishness of Waugh." —Zadie Smith, Harper''s

A brillant and scathingly funny family portrait that shows the shifting allegiances between parents, children, husbands and wives. The author combines the most excruciating pain with the driest comedy.

A beautifully modulated novel that shows Edward St. Aubyn at his sparkling best Charlie Fairburn, successful screenwriter, ex-husband, and absent father, has been given six months to live. He resolves to stake half his fortune on a couple of turns of the roulette wheel and, to his agent''s disgust, to write a novel-about death. In the casino he meets his muse. Charlie grows as addicted to writing fiction as she is to gambling. His novel is set on a train and involves a group of characters (familiar to readers of St. Aubyn''s earlier work) who are locked in a debate about the nature of consciousness. As this train gets stuck at Didcot, and Charlie gets more passionately entangled with the dangerous Angelique, A Clue to the Exit comes to its startling climax. Exquisitely crafted, witty, and thoughtful, Edward St. Aubyn''s dazzling novel probes the very heart of being.

A reimagining of one of Shakespeare''s most well-read tragedies, by the contemporary, critically acclaimed master of domestic drama Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he hands over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan, but as relations sour he starts to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. Now imprisoned in Meadowmeade, an upscale sanatorium in rural England, with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. But who will find him first, his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate? Edward St Aubyn is renowned for his masterwork, the five Melrose novels, which dissect with savage and beautiful precision the agonies of family life. His take on King Lear, Shakespeare’s most devastating family story, is an excoriating novel for and of our times – an examination of power, money and the value of forgiveness.

From the award-winning author of The Patrick Melrose novels, a hilarious and moving story about a group of wildly different characters whose fates are improbably yet inextricably linked—a novel about extinction and survival, inheritance and loss, written with St Aubyn’s trademark wit and inimitable style. It’s the summer of 2021, and Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him grappling with his fragile grip on reality and his persistent hunger to connect with the biological mother who abandoned him as a child. His therapist, Martin, is facing challenges of his own, including his adopted daughter’s tenuous relationship with her own biological mother—a predicament that makes Sebastian’s struggle feel uncannily proximate to her own. Olivia is producing a radio series on catastrophic natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life, as her best friend Lucy faces a grave diagnosis, and her husband, Francis, pursues his mission of re-wilding the world. Over the course of the next year their fates collide in outrageous and poignant ways, as each of their destinies is revealed in a marvelous new light. With characteristic brilliance and humour, Parallel Lines investigates themes of dualism, determinism, connection and love. St Aubyn captures the life of the spirit as vibrantly as the life of the mind, in a novel that wrestles with moral and psychic anguish and the cascading consequences of our choices at every stage of life. A thrilling, wholly captivating work from one of the most gifted writers at work today.

FROM THE MAN BOOKER–SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF THE PATRICK MELROSE NOVELS Called "the most brilliant novelist of his generation" (Alan Hollinghurst), Edward St. Aubyn captivated and astonished readers and critics alike with his mesmerizing quintet, the Patrick Melrose novels. Its publication introduced one of the most complex and fascinating protagonists in modern fiction. Now being published for the first time in America, On the Edge is an uproarious and sharply rendered satire of the New Age, which shows St. Aubyn at his finest. Peter Thorpe is disillusioned with his conventional life as a merchant banker until he meets Sabine, the most enchanting and enigmatic woman he''s ever encountered. His desire for her reaches such a pitch that he overturns his whole life, leaving everything behind to follow her into the stronghold of the New Age movement among the stunning peaks and valleys of Big Sur, California. There he meets an eccentric cast of spiritual seekers, joining them in pursuit of that elusive something (happiness?), which he never before dared to imagine possible.

Sunday Times Bestseller New York Times Bestseller Finalista al Booker Prize, vincitore del Prix Fémina. «Umorismo, pathos, giudizi fulminanti, dolore, gioia e tutta la gamma di sentimenti che li separa... I romanzi di Patrick Melrose sono un capolavoro del XXI secolo, e St. Aubyn è uno dei più grandi prosatori di lingua inglese». Alice Sebold «Non c''è niente, nella narrativa di questi anni, che possa reggere il confronto con la cruda, ironica ricchezza del mondo di St Aubyn e con la densità filosofica delle sue pagine». Zadie Smith «Ho adorato i romanzi della serie dei Melrose di St Aubyn. Leggeteli tutti, seduta stante». David Nicholls «Edward St. Aubyn è uno scrittore di immenso talento». Patrick McGrath

«L’adesione al calvario di Patrick è totale, e questa coincidenza assoluta, pelle contro pelle, è possibile solo perché dietro c’è una scrittura perfetta e impassibile, che entra come un oggetto esterno nell’animo umano, come una sonda o un sottomarino negli abissi». Caterina Bonvicini, il Fatto Quotidiano «Il libro, una bomba. Anche per i molti personaggi dell’upper class inglese, che racconta senza pietà alcuna». Edoardo Vigna, Sette «Suggerisco di leggere i bellissimi 4 romanzi raccolti in uno solo da Neri Pozza col titolo I Melrose». Natalia Aspesi, il Venerdì, la Repubblica «A 53 anni Edward St Aubyn è l’autore di uno dei libri più letterari e più crudi destinati ad apparire nelle librerie italiane: quattro romanzi, che sotto l’ombrello del titolo I Melrose, elaborano in uno stile illuminato dall’intelligenza la storia autobiografica di un bambino...» Livia Manera, Corriere della Sera

El jurat del Premi Literari Elisi ha de llegir centenars d''obres per tal de trobar el millor llibre de l''any. Al mateix temps, una colla d''escriptors estan desesperats per captar l''atenció d''aquest jurat: la brillant escriptora i trencacors Katherine Burns, el novel·lista debutant malalt d''amor Sam Black i en Sonny, convençut que el seu magnum opus, L''elefant morat, arrasarà el món literari com una tempesta. Ens revelarà, St Aubyn, el funcionament dels premis literaris? Com arriben, algunes obres, a ser seleccionades entre les finalistes? Quines són les motivacions per escollir la novel·la guanyadora? No tinc paraules és una sàtira enginyosa i fabulosament entretinguda que, d''una banda, va al gra quan tracta algunes de les qüestions més profundes sobre el paper de l''art en una cultura obsessionada per la celebritat, i, de l''altra, es pregunta com podem esperar reconèixer el talent real quan tothom té interessos personals. Irònicament, aquesta obra també va guanyar un premi literari.

Tras la espléndida saga de las novelas de Patrick Melrose, Edward St. Aubyn nos brinda una sátira hilarante sobre el mundo de los premios literarios en la más pura y británica tradición de Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse y Evelyn Waugh. Cuando el parlamentario Malcolm Craig accede a presidir el comité del premio literario Elysian lo hace motivado por intereses que nada tienen que ver con la literatura. Junto a otros cuatro jueces deberá elegir el libro del año, y utilizará cualquier artimaña para lograr imponer su criterio. Los miembros del jurado discutirán, regatearán y se engatusarán unos a otros con el único objetivo de que su favorito obtenga el galardón. Y mientras los jueces discuten, negocian y regatean, un grupo de escritores desesperados espera impaciente el veredicto. Entre ellos se encuentra un maharajá millonario que aspira al estrellato literario, un autor primerizo que sufre de mal de amores y una escritora brillante y rompecorazones profesional que, gracias a la incompetencia de su editor, puede perder la oportunidad de adquirir tan preciada gloria. Reseñas: «Una sátira rampante que demuestra el talento de St. Aubyn para la comedia; un ojo implacable para detectar las pretensiones y los autoengaños de la gente.» Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times «Vale la pena leer todo lo que escribe St. Aubyn por la rabia refrescante de su inteligencia y la enorme elegancia de su prosa.» The New York Times Book Review «Una sátira desopilante sobre el mundillo literario, el libro más divertido que ha escrito nunca.» The Sunday Telegraph «Los poderes de observación del autor están más afinados que nunca.» Financial Times «Pone en juego la ironía con una prosa impasible y controlada, bajo la cual se divisa la exasperación de un veterano.» Los Angeles Review of Books

Edward St Aubyns meisterhafter Roman über einen machtbesessenen und eitlen Despot am Ende seines Lebens Sein ganzes Leben lang hat Henry Dunbar auf nichts und niemanden Rücksicht genommen, besessen von der Vision, seinen kleinen Zeitungsverlag zu einem Medienkonzern auszubauen. Auf dem Zenit seiner Macht hat nur noch einen einzigen, aber mächtigen Feind: das Alter. Dunbar weiß, er muss sein Reich in die Hände seiner Töchter legen. Nur zwei der Kinder hält er für geeignet. Doch das Leben erteilt ihm eine bittere Lektion. In seinem neuen Roman, inspiriert von Shakespeares König Lear, seziert Edward St Aubyn gekonnt innerfamiliäre Beziehungen. "Dunbar und seine Töchter" ist ein brillantes Lehrstück über Egoismus, Starrsinn und die Erkenntnis, wie leicht einem am Ende des Lebens alles Erreichte aus den Händen gleiten kann.

Por quase vinte anos, o escritor Edward St. Aubyn retratou a vida de Patrick Melrose e o memorável universo de decadência, amoralidade, ganância, esnobismo e crueldade que marcam as relações e o modo de vida de uma classe social ultraprivilegiada. Como uma espécie de espelho da vida trágica do próprio escritor, os romances são um exercício literário brilhante de exorcizar seus demônios. Este primeiro volume reúne três dos cinco livros que compõem o ciclo de ficção vivamente aclamado pela crítica: Não importa, Más notícias e Alguma esperança.

I fem självrannsakande romaner följer vi Patrick Melrose från barndom till vuxenliv; från övergrepp och överdoser till överlevnad. Efter faderns roll i hans liv är turen nu kommen att skärskåda modern. Edward St Aubyn har länge setts som en klassiker i hemlandet England. När de tre första delarna kom ut på svenska 2016 höjdes de till skyarna av en enig kritikerkår: ”Alldeles fantastisk; ett fantastiskt språk, en skakande historia och en humor som befriar”, sa t ex Yukiko Duke i SVT Gomorron Sverige.

Des années 1960 aux années 2000, du sud de la France à la Grande-Bretagne en passant par New York, l’auteur raconte, dans une histoire semi-autobiographique, la vie de Patrick Melrose, qui naît dans une famille noble mais complètement dysfonctionnelle : repoussé par sa mère, abusé par son père, il devient un dandy alcoolique et drogué. Il quittera ce monde aristocratique à la dérive sans jamais pouvoir se réconcilier avec la figure paternelle, mais trouvera néanmoins une certaine forme d’apaisement. Sous une plume brillante et corrosive, mêlant la satire mondaine et l''humour acide à la tragédie la plus cruelle, Edward St Aubyn (prix Femina étranger pour Le Goût de la mère) nous offre une fresque incomparable autour d''un personnage inoubliable. Intelligent, drôle et méchant. Le Monde. La particularité des romans de St Aubyn tient à la manière dont les souffrances personnelles se trouvent contrebalancées par un art de la comédie sociale. The Guardian. Ce volume rassemble : 1. Peu importe 2. Mauvaise nouvelle 3. Après tout 4. Le Goût de la mère 5. Enfin Traduit de l’anglais par Marie Ploux, Sophie Brunet, Anne Damour.

”Det är helt enkelt exceptionellt bra. Så skarpt att orden skär ner till hjärtat, så medryckande sorgset och samtidigt så underhållande och roligt att den här recensenten vid upprepade tillfällen störde omgivningen med att skratta högt”.[Politiken] I fem självrannsakande romaner följer vi Patrick Melroses resa från barndom till vuxenliv; från övergrepp till överdoser och sedan till överlevnad. Edward St Aubyn har hyllats av en rad författare – bland andra Zadie Smith, Jonathan Franzen, Alan Hollinghurst – och har i sin giftiga skildring av den brittiska överklassen ofta jämförts med Oscar Wilde och Evelyn Waugh. Romanerna om Patrick Melrose – ”Glöm det”, ”Dåliga nyheter” och ”Visst hopp”.

Henry Dunbar a décidé de s’enfuir du foyer pour personnes âgées où ses filles l’ont placé en Cumbria, dans la région montagneuse du nord-ouest de l’Angleterre. Son acolyte dans l’aventure est un ancien comédien alcoolique avec lequel il a sympathisé... Ils tentent le tout pour le tout, et aucun des deux n’ignore qu’on essaiera de les retrouver par tous les moyens dès que leur disparition dans la nuit et la neige aura été découverte. Car Henry Dunbar n’est pas n’importe qui : il est l’un des hommes les plus riches de la planète, et même si à plus de quatre-vingts ans, il perd parfois un peu la tête, il est encore officiellement le patron d’un empire médiatique. Un empire convoité par ses filles Megan et Abigail, qui rêvent de prendre le contrôle du groupe lors de la prochaine assemblée générale. Elles traversent donc l’Atlantique en urgence – et en jet privé – pour essayer de remettre la main sur leur père afin de le neutraliser. Mais Florence, leur petite demi-sœur se montre plus rapide. Elle tient à revoir son père non pas pour s’emparer de l’héritage, mais dans le but de se réconcilier avec lui – il l’avait répudiée quand elle lui avait déclaré que son argent ne l’intéressait pas. Megan et Abigail, bien au contraire, ne pensent qu’à la fortune : assoiffées de pouvoir, elles sont prêtes à tout pour l’obtenir. Avec ses rebondissements loufoques ou drolatiques, Dunbar et ses filles est une tragi-comédie peuplée de nymphomanes hystériques, de manipulateurs manipulés et de grands lâches, tous attirés par le pouvoir et l’argent. St Aubyn nous offre non seulement une sorte de Roi Lear contemporain mais il tend surtout un miroir grossissant à notre époque. Traduit de l''anglais par David Fauquemberg.

Kun valta sokaisee. Ajankohtainen tulkinta Shakespearen Kuningas Learista. Tragedia kansainvälisen mediakonsernin johtajasta, jonka valta on sokaissut ja lähipiiri pettänyt. Mediakeisari Henry Dunbar on teljettynä Meadowmeadeen, yläluokkaiseen parantolaan Englannin maaseudulla, ainoana seuranaan dementoitunut komedianäyttelijä. Dunbar karkaa ylängölle ja pian hänen kannoillaan on koko perhe. Mutta tavoittaako Dunbarin ensimmäisenä hänen rakastettu ja rakastava kuopuksensa Florence vai tämän sisaret Abigail ja Megan, joiden ainoana päämääränä on vapauttaa Dunbar omaisuudestaan. "Uudelleen kirjoittamisesta tulee uudelleen elämistä, ohikiitävä häivähdys Shakespearen saavuttamatonta henkeä. Kaikki muu, trillereiden tapaan, on juonta ja lavasteita." New York Times Edward St Aubyn on Suomessa tunnettu Patrick Melrose -romaanien kirjoittaja. Romaanit on suomentanut Markku Päkkilä, joka vastaa myös Mediamogulin suomennoksesta. St Aubyn on syntynyt vuonna 1960, hän on naimisissa ja pariskunnalla on kaksi lasta. Perhe jakaa aikansa Englannin ja Ranskan välillä.