With Chatwin: Portrait of a Writer

He was famous for his sudden disappearances, his unexpected arrivals and for the whirling discourses that magnetised his audiences but which no one could quite summarise. His riff on red asked if the colour of revolution was inspired by blood or by fire, and took in the bonnet rouge of the French Revolution, Garibaldi, Uruguayan butchers, bullfighters and Buddhism.

All too much, you might think, too exquisite. Yet he could capture convinced sceptics with his talk. Martin Amis had developed a rugged resistance to Chatwin before meeting him. I first met Chatwin in the drought summer of He was carrying that calfskin haversack. It had dazzled and worried me.

I became his editor, with the task of making the book speed along. Every night, the author went home merrily to hack away his stuff: Every morning, he arrived having cut — but often having also added another episode; stories kept spilling out of him. Nevertheless, judging by the sums I scrawled in the margins, I reckon we eventually cut between a quarter and a third of the typescript.

The result was a swifter and consistently sleek volume: Not much that went was wasted. Some of the cut material bobbed up in later work, in The Songlines , his baggiest and probably most famous book, and in On the Black Hill. That novel he wrote, he said, to escape the label of travel writer: Chatwin, who had married at 25, had had male lovers. For me, his great gift — on the page and in person — was visual generosity.

He made you see different things and look at things differently. It was not works of art in galleries that interested him so much as objects, particularly those from which a story could be extracted. In the small Eaton Place flat designed by John Pawson — pleated like origami to hide his books — he hung pictures he had made by cutting coloured drawings from the catalogue of a broom manufacturer: In all his houses, he kept a prayer inscribed in Latin by the artist-poet David Jones: He later told his wife, Elizabeth, that he had immediately thought this applied to him.

In his final years, sometimes feverish, sometimes high on the drugs he was prescribed, he became an exaggerated version of his already high-velocity self.

He was full of plans and wheezes. He had a scheme for an opera about Florence Gould, the grande dame from San Francisco who, during the second world war, presided over a multilingual salon in Paris, where guests included Jean Cocteau and German propaganda officers. It was to be an English opera in which hardly a word of English would be spoken.

He wanted to give all his friends presents and went on wild shopping sprees. What he spent bore little relation to what money he had. Meanwhile, Elizabeth cancelled cheques and returned objects to art dealers. In the midst of this tumult, he produced the intricate short novel Utz , which was shortlisted for the Booker prize. It is the tale of a secret life which I think contains a quiet tribute to his wife. It is also a wonderful evocation of austerity and calm. He asked me to edit it and I went down to his house in Oxfordshire with some small suggestions.

With Chatwin: Portrait of a Writer: Susannah Clapp: www.newyorkethnicfood.com: Books

We sat for cold bright mornings, making some tucks and trims, with Bruce beamingly anticipating some of my quibbles: Huddled up in a blanket, looking tiny, he wailed: A couple of months later, he was thin and disconsolate and in bed. He died on 18 January ; he was But as a Chatwin fan, I was left wanting, and only wanted to finish it and move on to wider horizons.

The author was the literary editor of 4 of the 6 books Chatwin wrote. She had access to his private files and countless close friends. Certainly a very privileged starting point for a biography. She makes quite a bit of it with her sensitive approach, her meandering -chatwinesque- style and her sense of humor.

However, in turn her personal proximity to the author hinders her from criticizing, where critique is called for. So often times this is more of an eulogy than a biography. If you're intere The author was the literary editor of 4 of the 6 books Chatwin wrote. If you're interested in Chatwin and have read most of his works, you will very much enjoy this portrait.

However this work doesn't stand on it's own. If you only read one or two of his books and want to know more about him, you should probably get a classical biography.

‘Dazzling and worrying’: my memories of Bruce Chatwin and In Patagonia

Nov 25, Jeff Smith rated it really liked it. Loved it, what a talent, how the hell did anyone keep up with him, has given me so many more books and other references to explore.. Sep 30, Michael Burge rated it liked it. I read this book because it's rare to read anything written by an editor, especially an editor who worked with so unruly an author as Bruce Chatwin.

It's not a sycophantic read, if you don't like Chatwin and I am no fan , you'll like him even less after reading this, but you'll get plenty of insights about how and why he became so successful as a writer. This book is like a time capsule, from a time when eccentric English travel writers wrote fascinating insights about indigenous peoples of the w I read this book because it's rare to read anything written by an editor, especially an editor who worked with so unruly an author as Bruce Chatwin.

This book is like a time capsule, from a time when eccentric English travel writers wrote fascinating insights about indigenous peoples of the world. Now, such information can increasingly be sourced from writers who are from those indigenous communities. Clapp got plenty of flack for writing "the other Chatwin biography", while Nicholas Shakespeare was working at the same time as her, but, apart from publishing before Shakespeare's Chatwin biog, I suspect Clapp wanted to ensure the record was correct: Chatwin was not, it seems, sheer genius, he was captured genius.

Clapp and her sister Chatwin editors deserve credit for taking unbridled Chatwin and shaping him into a literary success story. Feb 11, Greta rated it it was ok. Bruce Chatwin caught my interest after I read his book "Songlines". His portrait by Susannah Clapp is somewhat tedious, good natured, and thorough, but never as fun as Chatwin's writing. Worth reading if you are curious about Chatwin.

In spite of the overlap between the content of this book and Nicholas Shakespeare's wonderful biography I believe the stylish prose that is reminiscent of Chatwin's if that is possible makes this book worth reading. The title of the first chapter, "Chatwinesque" says it all and I delighted in the retelling of the stories of his life. Susannah Clapp's book is not a biography, but collects her own memories of Chatwin and those of his friends, acquaintances and colleagues, with the aim of produci In spite of the overlap between the content of this book and Nicholas Shakespeare's wonderful biography I believe the stylish prose that is reminiscent of Chatwin's if that is possible makes this book worth reading.

She brings her memories to life on the page creating a great short read about a wondrous storyteller. Jul 19, Anna rated it it was ok Recommends it for: OK, I'm fascinated with Chatwin and love the messy, gorgeous, inconsistent world of his writing.

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Clapp writes of their relationship, which began as professional and editorial, and expanded into friendship. He sounds charming, infuriating, child-like, vain, a mythomaniac. I want him at a dinner party. I want him to show me his collection of netsuke. Aug 09, Simon rated it liked it. If you want a complete biography, and a superb one, read Nicholas Shakespeare's book on Chatwin. Clapp actually edited Chatwin's books, most especially Utz , and the book is more her impression of the man's life, but above all, of how Chatwin wrote. Interesting if you have read Chatwin as another take on this fascinating and supremely annoying author.

Vloeberghs Robin rated it really liked it Aug 13, Jane Atkinson rated it liked it Feb 08, Michael rated it really liked it May 04, Stefano Ferrando rated it it was amazing Jan 18, Jeroenf rated it it was ok Jul 13, Christopher Newland rated it really liked it Aug 25, Stefan Mesch rated it really liked it Aug 01, Eddie Clarke rated it really liked it Sep 29, Sean Brennan rated it it was amazing Sep 30, Lena rated it liked it Nov 08, Afonso rated it really liked it Nov 19, Stuart rated it liked it Apr 18, John rated it liked it Nov 07, Nathan Jones rated it it was ok May 04, Robert W rated it liked it Sep 21,