Publisher Description

'An intricate and delightful novel' (Graham Greene) from Booker prize-winning author Julian BarnesShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for FictionFlaubert's Parrot deals with Flaubert, parrots, bears and railways; with our sense of the past and our sense of abroad; with France and England, life and art, sex and death, George Sand and Louise Colet, aesthetics and redcurrant jam; and with its enigmatic narrator, a retired English doctor, whose life and secrets are slowly revealed.A compelling weave of fiction and imaginatively ordered fact, Flaubert's Parrot is by turns moving and entertaining, witty and scholarly, and a tour de force of seductive originality.

Notes

'An intricate and delightful novel' (Graham Greene) from Booker prize-winning author Julian Barnes

Back Cover

'An intricate and delightful novel' Graham Greene Flaubert's Parrot deals with Flaubert, parrots, bears and railways; with our sense of the past and our sense of abroad; with France and England, life and art, sex and death, George Sand and Louise Colet, aesthetics and redcurrant jam; and with its enigmatic narrator, a retired English doctor, whose life and secrets are slowly revealed. A compelling weave of fiction and imaginatively ordered fact, Flaubert's Parrot is by turns moving and entertaining, witty and scholarly, and a tour de force of seductive originality 'Delightful and enriching...A book to revel in' Joseph Heller 'A wry and graceful book, part novel, part literary criticism...the writing is unfailing sharp and often very funny, and among the best prose I have read in years' Sunday Times 'Endless food for thought, beautifully written...a tour de force' Germaine Greer 'A gem: an unashamed literary novel that is also unashamed to be readable...Bravo!' John Irving

Author Biography

Julian Barnes is the author of thirteen novels, including The Sense of an Ending, which won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and Sunday Times bestsellers The Noise of Time and The Only Story. He has also written three books of short stories, four collections of essays and three books of non-fiction, including the Sunday Times number one bestseller Levels of Life and Nothing To Be Frightened Of, which won the 2021 Yasnaya Polyana Prize in Russia. In 2017 he was awarded the Legion d'honneur.

Review

Barnes manages to be erudite but extremely funny too… You never know what Barnes is going to do next and I admire that.' -- Caroline Rees * Daily Express *
Delightful and enriching... A book to revel in -- Joseph Heller
A gem: an unashamed literary novel that is also unashamed to be readable, and broadly entertaining. Bravo! -- John Irving
Endless food for thought, beautifully written... A tour de force -- Germaine Greer
Unputdownable... A mesmeric original -- Philip Larkin

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'An intricate and delightful novel' (Graham Greene) from Booker prize-winning author Julian Barnes

Review Text

Barnes manages to be erudite but extremely funny too... You never know what Barnes is going to do next and I admire that.'

Review Quote

Barnes manages to be erudite but extremely funny too... You never know what Barnes is going to do next and I admire that.'

Promotional "Headline"

'An intricate and delightful novel' (Graham Greene) from Booker prize-winning author Julian Barnes

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