Meet John Cromer, one of the most unusual heroes in modern fiction. Growing up disabled and gay in the 1950's, circumstances force John from an early age to develop an intense and vivid internal world. As his character develops, this ability to transcend external circumstance through his own strength of character proves an invaluable asset.
William thought trust was a good idea; Terry needed a lover who would keep his little secret. But how does accidental monogamy survive in a world ruled by illness and denial? By the author of Lantern Lecture, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award.
Adam Mars-Jones guides us through his entire career as viewer and film critic.
BOX HILL is a sizzling, sometimes shocking, and strangely tragic love story between two men, set in the gay bikercommunity of the late 1970s.
The narrative centers on Colin, a young man who discovers his sexual identity on his eighteenth birthday through an unexpected encounter with Ray, an older, charismatic biker. Set in the cruising grounds of Box Hill, Colin's coming-of-age journey is filled with humor and self-discovery as he navigates love and desire. His reflections reveal a blend of vulnerability and yearning, showcasing his admiration for Ray and his own evolving sense of self, while also expressing empathy for others who may feel out of place.
'Brims with humour ... each sentence is a delight' Independent Shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize 2016 When his widowed father - once a high court judge and always a formidable figure - drifted into vagueness if not dementia, the writer Adam Mars-Jones took responsibility for his care. Intimately trapped in the London flat where the family had always lived, the two men entered an oblique new stage in their relationship. In the aftermath of an unlooked-for intimacy, Mars-Jones has written a book devoted to particular emotions and events. Kid Gloves is a highly entertaining book about (among other things) families, the legal profession, and the vexed question of Welsh identity. It is necessarily also a book about the writer himself - and the implausible, long-delayed moment, some years before, when he told his sexually conservative father about his own orientation, taking the homophobic bull by the horns. The supporting cast includes Ian Fleming, the Moors Murderers, Jacqueline Bisset and Gilbert O'Sullivan, the singer-songwriter whose trademark look kept long shorts from their rightful place on the fashion pages for so many years.
Exploring masculinity, class and identity, Batlava Lake is a brilliant story of men and war by one of Britain's most accomplished writers.
A physically challenged hero embarks on a journey of international travel, spiritual growth, and higher education, navigating friendships, romance, and institutional challenges. This title continues the story of John Cromer, a notable character in contemporary literature.
'Late Spring, directed and co-written by Yasujiro Ozu, was released in 1949, which makes it an old film, or a film that has been new for a long time ... ' So begins this remarkable essay in narrative reconstruction, which elicits a world of meanings from the reticences of one classic Japanese movie, and reserves to the very end a resolution of its mystery. Adam Mars-Jones gives a virtuoso comeback performance as that lost figure from the earl days of cinema: the film explainer. There has never been a film book like this one
Meet John Cromer - 'one of the most original comic creations in recent fiction' (Guardian) - and discover one of the great overlooked adventures in literature.