Malcolm Bradbury | Author

About the Author

A professor of English literature and American studies who has published numerous critical works, Malcolm Bradbury is also a novelist whose protagonists are academics who make muddles of their personal and professional lives. He maintains that his main concern is to explore problems and dilemmas of show more liberalism and issues of moral responsibility. The targets of Bradbury's satires include intellectual pretension, cultural myopia, and official smugness. His protagonists are largely sympathetic, if comic, failures at mastering their own fates in a world of absurd rules and regulations. His major novels include Eating People Is Wrong (1959), Stepping Westward (1965), and The History Man (1975). This last, a novel of intellectual and political conflict at an English university in the late 1960s, was made into a successful television minidrama. More recent novels include Rates of Exchange (1983) and Cuts (1987). (Bowker Author Biography) Malcolm Bradbury is a novelist, critic, television dramatist, & satirist. His many books include "Rates of Exchange", which was short-listed for the Booker Prize, & "The Modern American Novel". (Publisher Provided) show less

Includes the names: Macolm Bradbury, Malcom Bradbury, Malcom Bradbury, Malcolm Bradbury, Malcom Bradbury ed., ed. Malcolm Bradbury, editor Malcolm Bradbury, Malcolm edited by Bradbury, et al Malcom Bradbury, ed., Malcolm Bradbury et al. Ed., , Малкольм Брэдбери

Works by Malcolm Bradbury

Popular Recent

The History Man (1975) 835 copies

The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories (1989) — Editor — 433 copies

Eating People Is Wrong (1959) 421 copies

The Atlas of Literature (1996) — Editor — 398 copies

Modernism: A Guide to European Literature 1890-1930 (Penguin Literary Criticism) (1976) — Editor — 348 copies

From Puritanism to Postmodernism: A History of American Literature (1992) 335 copies

Rates of Exchange (1983) 322 copies

To the Hermitage (2000) 304 copies

Doctor Criminale (1992) 186 copies

Stepping Westward (1965) 155 copies

Cuts (1987) 145 copies

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers (1988) 134 copies

Cold Comfort Farm [1995 film] (1995) — Screenplay — 124 copies

Dangerous Pilgrimages: Trans-Atlantic Mythologies and the Novel (1995) 114 copies

The Modern American Novel: New Revised Edition (1984) 106 copies

Who Do You Think You Are? (2000) 103 copies

My Strange Quest for Mensonge (King Penguin) (1982) 87 copies

The Modern British Novel (1993) 87 copies

Unsent Letters (1988) 81 copies

The Penguin companion to American literature (1971) 72 copies

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go (1962) 63 copies

The Novel Today: Contemporary Writers on Modern Fiction (1977) — Editor — 46 copies

Why Come to Slaka? (1986) 41 copies

No, Not Bloomsbury (1987) 36 copies

Present Laughter: Anthology of Modern Comic Fiction (1994) — Editor — 34 copies

After Dinner Game: Three Plays for Television (Arena Books) (1982) 25 copies

Liar's Landscape: Collected Writing from a Storyteller's Life (2006) 24 copies

Forster: A Collection of Critical Essays (1966) 23 copies

Class Work: The Best of Contemporary Short Fiction (1995) 18 copies

Rates of Exchange: AND Why Come to Slaka? (2003) 18 copies

New Writing 1 (1992) — Editor — 15 copies

Introduction to American Studies (1981) 14 copies

Metaphysical Poetry (Stratford Studies) (1970) 12 copies

Saul Bellow (Contemporary Writers) (1982) 10 copies

New Writing 2 (1993) — Editor — 8 copies

Contemporary Criticism (Stratford-Upon-Avon Studies : No. 12) (1970) 8 copies

Inspector Morse 32: The Wench Is Dead [Videorecording] (2003) — Screenplay — 7 copies

Shakespearian comedy (Stratford-upon-Avon studies) (1972) 7 copies

The Social Context of Modern English Literature. (1971) 6 copies

E.M.Forster: a Passage to India (Casebook) (1970) — Editor — 6 copies

Inspector Morse: Set Eleven: The Wench Is Dead 6 copies

Evelyn Waugh (1964) 5 copies

Contemporary Theatre (Stratford-Upon-Avon Studies : No. 4) (1962) 5 copies

Contemporary American Fiction (Stratford-upon-Avon studies) (1987) — Editor — 4 copies

New Writing {sets} 3 copies

Contemporary English Novel (Stratford-Upon-Avon Studies, No 18) (1979) 3 copies

The Collected Works Volume One: Rates of Exchange, The History Man, and Stepping Westward (2018) 2 copies

The American novel and the nineteen twenties (Stratford-upon-Avon studies) (1971) — Editor — 2 copies

Possibilities: Essays on the State of the Novel (1973) 2 copies

What Is a Novel? (General Studies) (1969) 2 copies

Crítica contemporánea (1974) 2 copies

Victorian poetry (1972) 2 copies

The Penguin companion to classical, Oriental & African literature (The Penguin companion to world literature) 1 copy

The Collected Works Volume Two: Cuts, All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go, and Doctor Criminale (2018) 1 copy

Penguin Companion to World Literature: 4 Volume Set: English; European; American; Classical, Oriental, African 1 copy

Furling the Flag, Part 2 1 copy

Furling the Flag, Part 1 1 copy

The Expatriate Tradition in American Literature (British Association for American Studies (BAAS) Pamphlets) (1982) 1 copy

Composition 1 copy

Phogey! or, How to have class in a classless society. (1960) 1 copy

The History Man [video recording] 1 copy

Inside Trading (Methuen New Theatrescripts): Comedy in Three Acts (Modern Plays) (1997) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

The Great Gatsby (1925) — Introduction, some editions — 72,604 copies

Animal Farm (1945) — Introduction, some editions — 60,403 copies

Catch-22 (1961) — Introduction, some editions — 40,181 copies

A Farewell to Arms (1929) — Introduction, some editions — 22,538 copies

The Red Badge of Courage (2004) — Editor, some editions — 11,244 copies

A Room with a View (1908) — some editions — 11,231 copies

Howards End (1910) — Contributor, some editions — 8,819 copies

Crome Yellow (1921) — Introduction, some editions — 2,011 copies

Parade's End (1925) — Introduction, some editions — 1,766 copies

The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry (2001) — Contributor — 252 copies

Scenes from Provincial Life and Scenes from Metropolitan Life (1950) — Introduction, some editions — 48 copies

A Distant Cry: Stories from East Anglia (2002) — Contributor — 12 copies

Great Interviews of the 20th Century: F Scott Fitzgerald by Michel Mok (2007) — Contributor — 3 copies

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Bradbury, Malcolm
Legal name: Bradbury, Sir Malcolm Stanley
Birthdate: 1932-09-07
Date of death: 2000-11-27
Burial location: St Mary's parish churchyard, Tasburgh, Norfolk, England, UK
Gender: male
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK
Place of death: Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK
Places of residence: London, England, UK
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
Indiana, USA
Education: University College, Leicester (BA|1953)
Queen Mary College, University of London (MA|1955)
University of Manchester (Ph.D|1962)
West Bridgford Grammar School
Occupations: novelist
critic
academic
journalist
screenwriter
professor
Organizations: University of Birmingham
University of East Anglia
Awards and honors: Commander, Order of the British Empire (1991)
Knight Bachelor (2000)
Pipe Smoker of the Year (1997)
Agent: Curtis Brown

Members

Reviews

The Modern American Novel: New Edition by Malcolm Bradbury

A brilliant survey of American novels from the 1890s to the 1990s, this book provides an overview that highlights the best in American fiction. While eminently readable, it basically provides a reference for readers interested in exploring the best in American fiction.

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jwhenderson | 1 other review | Jun 5, 2024 |

Eating People is Wrong by Malcolm Bradbury

Malcolm Bradbury sends up the 1950s "provincial" [15 occurrences] English university department and "liberal" [27 occurrences] faculty entertainingly, but I found the situations and humour painfully dated in this novel of inward-looking postwar English academic attitudes and experiences. To my mind, the novels of his friend David Lodge reflect more enduring character types and contexts.

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sfj2 | 3 other reviews | Apr 14, 2024 |

Rates of Exchange by Malcolm Bradbury

I found this novel entertaining and enjoyable, given its academic protagonist on an European academic jaunt. Plausible and humorous barely-satirical situations worthy of a quiet afternoon read.

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sfj2 | 1 other review | Apr 3, 2024 |

The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories by Various

As I was reading a masterful short story by Salman Rushdie, he was being stabbed on stage. I had just talked about how certain authors in this collection (and in literature, generally) operate on a different level than others who are still very good, then I read about the contemptible attack. I hope he will recover as soon and as completely as possible.

I found this to be a very strong collection, with absolutely no weak points, and some real gems. Each short story was at least fine, but some were simply outstanding:

Samuel Beckett: Ping - I have a soft spot for the nonsense which of course does have sense and such a strong rhythm in all its minimalism that it is positively enjoyable

Dylan Thomas: The Burning Baby - nightmarish as its title, intense and skilful, with all due respect, trying to purge my memory of it

Ted Hughes: The Rain Horse - a tad less nightmarish but still very much in that territory, also very intense and skilful

Salman Rushdie: The Prophet's Hair - this is where I had to pause to acknowledge how certain authors produced works that were not better but on a completely different level of quality than others, and those others were also very good. (for me, authors of this different quality include Auster, Nabokov, Esterházy) I intend to use this in ESL lessons as I did with the following one.

Kazuo Ishiguro: A Family Supper What a twist! I loved how he built up the readers' expectations very clearly towards one final outcome and then provided an utter anticlimax. This is a short story I already used with my C1-level students. As I was making photocopies for them to read, I accidentally dropped the last page, which gave me the idea to make them write their own ending to the story. (Some loved the idea, others detested it.) I only gave them the last page when they handed in their versions. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and would definitely repeat with other groups.

I really appreciate the following as well:
Graham Greene: The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen - another one up for ESL lessons
William Golding: Miss Pulkinhorn
Alan Sillitoe: The Fishing-boat Picture
Doris Lessing: To Room Nineteen
Muriel Spark: The House of the Famous Poet
John Fowles: The Enigma - started as a detective story but turned out to be something even better
Malcolm Bradbury: Composition - with its 3 different endings
Beryl Bainbridge: Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie - very powerful
Ian McEwan: Psychopolis - turning so suddenly from a constant mood, and capturing the shock perfectly
Julian Barnes: One of a Kind
Clive Sinclair: Bedbugs… (more)

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blueisthenewpink | 3 other reviews | Jan 3, 2024 |

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