Summoned by Bells A Verse Autobiography

by Betjeman, John

• ISBN13: 9780374271732
• ISBN10: 0374271739
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Summary

When I returned from school I found we'd moved: '53 Church Street. Yes, the slummy end'-- A little laugh accompanied the joke, For we were Chelsea now and we had friends Whose friends had friends who knew Augustus John: We liked bold colour schemes--orange and black-- And clever daring plays about divorce. --from Chapter 6, "London" Shortly after it was published in 1960, the modern classicSummoned by Bellswas heralded as the verse autobiography of the century. It is a uniquely evocative narrative of the agonies and delights of growing up, set against the backgrounds of Highgate, Cornwall, Marlborough, and Oxford, and recounted in a way that has endeared Betjeman to generations of readers.

Author Biography

Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984) was one of Britain's most recognized, beloved, and bestselling poets of the last century. He was knighted in 1969 and named poet laureate in 1972.

Table of Contents

"This is John Betjeman's finest work . . . I abandon all the usual literary equivocations and call it a masterpiece." --The Sunday Times (London)

"Betjeman is perhaps as completely original a writer as has ever existed." --The Times Literary Supplement