'Cracking entertainment... Dangerously, deliciously addictive' Daily Telegraph

'[Raven is] a freak writer, he defies classification. In wilder moments he suggests a loose, lunatic collaboration of Trollope, Ouida and Waugh' Observer

Enter Alms for Oblivion, Simon Raven's dazzling cycle of ten novels, all telling separate stories but at the same time linked together by the characters they have in common: schoolboys and businessmen, writers and soldiers, prostitutes and patient wives, actresses and models. In the first four novels Raven's wayward band of upper-class anti-heroes lurch from debauched parties to rehearsals for nuclear war; from blackmail to murder; from marriage to adultery and back again.

Volume 1: The Rich Pay Late, Friends in Low Places, The Sabre Squadron and Fielding Gray

'There are some people who consider the greatest cycle of twentieth-century novels to be Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time. These people are wrong. Widmerpool and his joyless accomplices are as nothing compared to the characters in Simon Raven's majestic, scurrilous and scabrous Alms for Oblivion cycle' Guardian

A dazzling sequence of novels about the English misbehaving at home and abroad

About the Author
Author Simon Raven was perhaps known as much for his controversial behaviour as for his writing. He grew up reading and studying the classics, translating them from Greek and Latin into English and vice-versa. He was expelled from Charterhouse School in 1945 for homosexual activities, having first been seduced at the age of nine by the games master (an experience he described as giving 'immediate and unalloyed pleasure") and went on to join the army. Following his National Service, Raven attended King's College, Cambridge to read English. Raven later returned to the army but was asked to resign rather than face a court-martial for 'conduct unbecoming.' It was at this point that he turned his focus to writing. The publisher Anthony Blond paid Raven to write and to move away from London to Deal, Kent. His works span a multitude of genres including fiction, drama, essays, memoirs and screenplays. Simon Raven died in May 2001, having written his own epitaph: "He shared his bottle - and, when still young and appetising, his bed."

Reviews
Cracking entertainment... Dangerously, deliciously addictive * Daily Telegraph *
Sparkling and fizzing... Raven has the mind of a cad and the pen of an angel * Guardian *
There are some people who consider the greatest cycle of twentieth-century novels to be Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time. These people are wrong. Widmerpool and his joyless accomplices are as nothing compared to the characters in Simon Raven's majestic, scurrilous and scabrous Alms for Oblivion cycle * Guardian *
A ready made cult waiting to be discovered * Spectator *
Raven's gusto, the robustness of his style and his powerful, if quirky, intelligence all held me rapt * Sunday Telegraph *
Raven's unique vision of our times - classes battling, corruption raging, ideas flashing - is not only valid but valuable. He spins webs of chance, intrigue and wit to ensnare civilised values and trap the truth. It's high time we gave this very curious genius a loud, warm welcome. -- David Hughes * Mail on Sunday *
Brisk, bawdy and reckless * Evening Standard *
Each of the novels in Alms for Oblivion is an elegant morality tale, beautifully composed, sparkling with appreciation of the sheer limitless variety of human wickedness * TLS *
[Raven is] a freak writer, he defies classification. In wilder moments he suggests a loose, lunatic collaboration of Trollope, Ouida and Waugh * Observer *
Crammed with comedy, suspense and action * Daily Mail *



Book Information
ISBN 9780099561323
Author Simon Raven
Format Paperback
Page Count 896
Imprint Vintage Classics
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 607g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 39mm