A Voyage Round John Mortimer

Autobiographies and biographies.

John Mortimer's autobiographical play is the affectionate portrait of a son's relationship with his father. Growing up in the shadow of the brilliant barrister, who adored his garden and hated visitors, and whose blindness was never mentioned, the son continually yearns for his father's love and respect. A Voyage Round My Father opened in June 2006 at the Donmar Theatre, London starring Derek Jacobi.

Novelist, playwright, and barrister Sir John Mortimer has led an extraordinarily rich and daring life. Grove traces his colorful personal life and literary career through to the creation of Horace Rumpole, one of the most popular characters in contemporary fiction. 16-page b&w photo insert.

'Rumpole, like Jeeves and Sherlock Holmes, is immortal' P. D. James Horace Rumpole - dishevelled barrister at law, drinker of claret and smoker of cigars, inveterate quoter of Wordsworth and eternal defender of the underdog - is one of the greatest English comic characters ever created. This is the original volume of Rumpole stories, introducing us to the legal triumphs that first made the Old Bailey Hack's name, along with a host of choice villains, frequent forays to Pommeroy's wine bar and, of course, his formidable, magisterial wife Hilda, She Who Must Be Obeyed. 'I thank heaven for small mercies. The first of these is Rumpole' Clive James 'A fruity, foxy masterpiece, defender of our wilting faith in mankind' Sunday Times

In John Mortimer's most famous and highly autobiographical play, a young man looks back on an unconventional childhood and youth overshadowed by his irascible and eccentric father. Sent away to boarding school to be 'prepared for life', he finds teachers deranged by shell shock after the First World War and boys who try to coat their ordinary home lives with romance. As the Second World War begins, the mild-mannered protagonist tries to become a writer, but is compelled to become a barrister like his father - a towering character depicted with affection and exasperation. Hugely popular since it was first performed, A Voyage Round My Father is a sublimely comic drama of warmth, nostalgia and wisdom.

Includes: A Voyage Around My Father, one of Mortimer's greatest theatrical successes and a celebration of the Shakespeare-quoting, eccentric, brave, and impossible barrister the author had as a father. Also includes: The Collaborators, The Dock Brief, Lunch Hour, and What Shall We Tell Caroline?

When Simeon Simcox, a socialist clergyman, leaves his entire fortune not to his family but to the ruthless, social-climbing Tory MP Leslie Titmuss, the Rector's two sons react in very different ways. Henry, novelist and former 'angry young man' turned grumpy old reactionary, decides to fight the will and prove their father was insane. Younger brother Fred, a mild-mannered country doctor, takes a different approach, quietly digging in Simeon's past, only to uncover an entirely unexpected explanation for the legacy. An exquisitely drawn saga of ancient rivalries and class struggles, featuring a glorious cast of characters, Paradise Postponed is a delicious portrait of English country life by a master satirist.

A Voyage Round My Father is a funny, subtle, touching portrait of his father's enigmatic endurance.