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'"I was born in a house of books."
'So begins this long-awaited autobiography, in which Geoffrey Dutton embarks on an honest, controversial and brilliantly entertaining journey through seventy crowded years.
'His unusual childhood was dominated by the lavish lives of his wealthy parents who collected houses as well as books, although young Geoffrey was despatched to boarding school at a young age while his mother traveled abroad to enjoy a flirtation with the European aristocracy.
'His real education came later, in wartime. I've joined the air force, and as well as embarking on various amorous adventures, his risky low flying antics had him promptly locked up in the "boob".
'During the war he also began publishing poetry and was closely associated with the modernist movement in art and literature. Later I studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where CS Lewis was one of his tutors.
'Since then Geoffrey Dutton has become renowned as a poet, critic, biographer, publisher and editor. In this masterpiece of literary autobiography he traces many journeys, from his sojourn in Cold War crazy Kansas to a wild and wonderful visit to Russia as a hapless victim of Intourist. Other travels take him through the Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean.
'There are many intimate portraits of his sometimes volatile friends, among them the feisty Zhenya Yevtushenko, fellow flier David Campbell, Russell Drysdale, Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, the precocious Robert Hughes, Ken Slessor, and Max Harris, eccentric survivor of "Ern Malley " Here too is the full story of the celebrated, quarter-century friendship with Patrick White which ended so bitterly.' (Publication summary)
'So begins this long-awaited autobiography, in which Geoffrey Dutton embarks on an honest, controversial and brilliantly entertaining journey through seventy crowded years.
'His unusual childhood was dominated by the lavish lives of his wealthy parents who collected houses as well as books, although young Geoffrey was despatched to boarding school at a young age while his mother traveled abroad to enjoy a flirtation with the European aristocracy.
'His real education came later, in wartime. I've joined the air force, and as well as embarking on various amorous adventures, his risky low flying antics had him promptly locked up in the "boob".
'During the war he also began publishing poetry and was closely associated with the modernist movement in art and literature. Later I studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where CS Lewis was one of his tutors.
'Since then Geoffrey Dutton has become renowned as a poet, critic, biographer, publisher and editor. In this masterpiece of literary autobiography he traces many journeys, from his sojourn in Cold War crazy Kansas to a wild and wonderful visit to Russia as a hapless victim of Intourist. Other travels take him through the Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean.
'There are many intimate portraits of his sometimes volatile friends, among them the feisty Zhenya Yevtushenko, fellow flier David Campbell, Russell Drysdale, Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, the precocious Robert Hughes, Ken Slessor, and Max Harris, eccentric survivor of "Ern Malley " Here too is the full story of the celebrated, quarter-century friendship with Patrick White which ended so bitterly.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Geoffrey Dutton : Little Adelaide and New York Nowhere
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Adelaide : A Literary City 2014; (p. 183-198) -
Geoffrey Piers Dutton OA : 2 August 1922 - 17 September 1998
1999
single work
obituary
(for Geoffrey Dutton
)
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 155 1999; (p. 81-82) -
Untitled
1998
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Studies , Summer vol. 13 no. 1 1998; (p. 173-174)
— Review of Out in the Open : An Autobiography 1994 single work autobiography -
A Scarf-Trailer Badly Scarred
1996
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 April 1996; (p. 10) -
Recollections and Letters Offer an Inside View of Australian Culture
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 9 no. 2 1995; (p. 172)
— Review of Out in the Open : An Autobiography 1994 single work autobiography
-
A Crueller Shade of White
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Independent Monthly , November vol. 6 no. 5 1994; (p. 72-74)
— Review of Out in the Open : An Autobiography 1994 single work autobiography ; Patrick White : Letters 1994 selected work correspondence -
A Life and Some Letters
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , December vol. 4 no. 10 1994; (p. 30-32)
— Review of Out in the Open : An Autobiography 1994 single work autobiography ; Patrick White : Letters 1994 selected work correspondence -
Beastly Opulence with Few Regrets
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15-16 October 1994; (p. rev 6)
— Review of Out in the Open : An Autobiography 1994 single work autobiography -
Big Book About a Life that is Largely Literary
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 October 1994; (p. C10)
— Review of Out in the Open : An Autobiography 1994 single work autobiography -
Flawed Treasure
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser Magazine , 29 October 1994; (p. 13)
— Review of Out in the Open : An Autobiography 1994 single work autobiography -
Writers' Call to the Bush
1994
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 26 August 1994; (p. 6) -
Geoffrey Piers Dutton OA : 2 August 1922 - 17 September 1998
1999
single work
obituary
(for Geoffrey Dutton
)
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 155 1999; (p. 81-82) -
A Scarf-Trailer Badly Scarred
1996
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 April 1996; (p. 10) -
Open Access? Geoffrey Dutton's 'Out in the Open' and Contemporary Autobiography
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , Summer vol. 7 no. 3 1995; (p. 54-65) -
Man of Letters
1994
single work
biography
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , October vol. 74 no. 1052 1994; (p. 36-37)
Last amended 30 Apr 2020 13:13:47
Subjects:
- Geoffrey Dutton
- Ninette Clarice Florence Dutton
- Robin Lucas
- David Campbell
- Sidney Nolan
- Alister Kershaw
- Barry Humphries
- Max Harris
- Richard Aldington
- Patrick White
- Kenneth Slessor
- Arthur Boyd
- Adelaide Writers' Week
- Manoly Lascaris
- Sun Books
- Penguin
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko
- University of Oxford
- Commonwealth Literary Fund
- Australia Council. Literature Board
- Abandoned Airstrip, Northern Territory 1960 single work poetry
- The Mortal and the Marble 1950 single work novel
- Queen Emma of the South Seas : A Novel 1976 single work novel
- Kenneth Slessor : A Biography 1991 single work biography
- Australian Letters: A Quarterly Review of Writing and Criticism 1957 periodical (28 issues)
- Andy 1968 single work novel
- Australian literary history
- Australian literature and writers
- Editors
- Publishing
- World War II
- Australian art
- Literary critics
- Class differences
- Music
- Houses & identity
- Writers' tours & visits
- Republicanism
- Biographies
- Influences
- Universities & tertiary institutions
- Literary festivals
- Music
- Australian publishers
- Russian literature & writers
- Poets
- Rocky Point, Kangaroo Island, South Australia,
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- Adelaide, South Australia,
- South Australia,
- Anlaby, Roseworthy - Kapunda area, Lower North South Australia, South Australia,
-
cEngland,ccUnited Kingdom (UK),cWestern Europe, Europe,
-
cUnited States of America (USA),cAmericas,
-
cRussia,ccFormer Soviet Union,cEastern Europe, Europe,
- Europe,
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