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Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life is an intimate and compelling portrait of Larkin by his literary executor and close friend, former poet laureate Andrew Motion.
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‘An exemplary biography of its kind – detailed, meticulous and sympathetic.’ Peter Ackroyd, The Times
‘Larkin lived a quietly noble and exemplary version of the writer’s life; Motion – affectionate but undeceived about the man’s frailties, a diligent researcher and a deft reader of poetry – has written an equally exemplary ‘Life’ of him.’ Peter Conrad, Observer
‘Honest but not prurient, critical but also compassionate, Motion’s book could not be bettered.’ Alan Bennett, London Review of Books
‘There will be other lives of Larkin, but Motion’s, like Forster’s of Dickens, will always have a special place.’ John Carey, Sunday Times
Andrew Motion was UK Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009 and is co-founder of the online Poetry Archive. In 2015 he was appointed Homewood Professor in the Arts at Johns Hopkins University; he lives in Baltimore.
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