Shaking a Leg: Collected Journalism and Writings

by Angela Carter

Book Overview

"An electrifying intellectual autobiography, with all the narrative expanse, drama, outrage, and high comedy of the author's fiction. Angela Carter is revealed here, anew, as one of the most important thinkers of twentieth-century world literature--and one of its most pungent voices."--Rick Moody

One of contemporary literature's most original and affecting fiction writers, Angela Carter also wrote brilliant nonfiction. Shaking a Leg...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140276955
• ISBN13: 9780140276954
• Release Date: December 1998
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 656 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A showcase of Carter's literary talents

This anthology of Carter's writing contains essays that will make you laugh, make you angry, fascinate you, and educate you with the perspectives of a person who lived through times of authentic social change and the establishment's reaction to change. The reflections and arguments compiled in this book themselves comprise a valuable heirloom for any reader or writer interested in 20th century politics and culture. I have several favorites, like the uproariously satirical pieces on Linda Lovelace and D.H. Lawrence. There are also some illuminating essays on less known writers like Christina Stead and Bessie Head. Her investigational writings on Japanese culture are fascinating readings. Most compelling for me are the essays on the atomic/nuclear bomb, in which Carter expounds on the failure of reason against nuclear weapons. This anthology has something for everyone. I think in a way Carter was a writer's writer, but any reader can enjoy her work. Any fan of her truly gothic fiction will find the anthology informative and revealing with regards to Carter's personal ideology, feminist perspectives, and her inner values as a woman.

Must-have

Like everything Angela Carter ever wrote, her essays are precise, profound, lyrical and always always decidedly hers. The essays collected here overflow with Carter's humor and insight. Every page was a true pleasure to read.