Product Description

Gabriele D'Annunzio, `Gabriel of the Annunciation', shocked and dazzled early twentieth-century Europe with his sexual exploits, military feats, and political escapades. In a blaze of self-publicity, these activities provided material for his fiery journalism and stunning literary creations. French translations of his scandalous novels first exposed Europe to his genius, but his roots lay deep in his native soil. A pivotal presence in the evolution of Italian politics, literature, society, and taste, he rarely allowed his name to fall from the public gaze during forty critical years, and more than any other Italian since the unification of his country, he casts a shadow forwards to the present day. His literary achievements have influenced generations of Italian writers. This biography is the first fully-documented appraisal of this extraordinary man's career, making use of previously unpublished manuscripts and new source material, and maintaining a degree of objectivity never previously seen in Dannunzian scholarship.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2307472 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 420 pages

Review
`D'Annunzio's first fully documented biography in any language .,.. a fascinating and judicious account written with elegance and clarity ... helpfully every quotation is accompanied by a lucid translation. It is also an evenhanded study of an eccentric personality whose foibles were sometimes unintentionally comic as well as horrific.' Denis Mack Smith, The Times

`In this admirably level-headed biography he does full justice to the poet's genius and to the Nietzschean celebrity-hero's significant role in European cultural and political history. His elegantly written book is scrupulous enough to satisfy his fellow-scholars, but it is also racy enough to provide plenty of thrills for the lay reader.' Lucy Hughes-Hallet, The Sunday Times

`Professor Woodhouse has contrived to make a sober, detailed, academic bioigraphy of this astonishing life. John Woodhouse, keeping a straight face almost throughout, tells one, very fairly, all anyone could ever wish to know about him.' Allan Massie, The Daily Telegraph

`John Woodhouse's study of D'Annunzio is the first fully documented biography in any language, and it is "a fascinating and judicious account", declared Denis Mack Smith in The Times. "It will go some way towards confirming D'Annunzio's reputation as a lyric poet and is also an even-handed study of an eccentric personality whose foibles were sometimes unintentionally comic as well as horrific."' The Week

To treat D'Annunzio simplistically as scandal or a joke. In this admirably love headed biography he does full justice to the poet's genius and to the Nietzschean celebrity hero's significant role in European cultural and political history.

John Woodhouse's study of D'Annunzio is the first fully documented biography in any language, and it is "a fascinating and judicious account", declared Denis Mack Smith in The Times. "It will go some way towards confirming D'Annunzio's reputation as a lyric poet and is also an even-handed study of an eccentric personality whose foibles were sometimes unintentionally comic as well as horrific.

`John Woodhouse's study of D'Annunzio is the first fully documented biography in any language, and it is "a fascinating and judicious account", declared Denis Mack Smith in The Times. "It will go some way towards confirming D'Annunzio's reputation as a lyric poet and is also an even-handed study of an eccentric personality whose foibles were sometimes unintentionally comic as well as horrific.' The Week

g 5 `To treat D'Annunzio simplistically as scandal or a joke. In this admirably love headed biography he does full justice to the poet's genius and to the Nietzschean celebrity hero's significant role in European cultural and political history.' The Sunday Times

`An admirable and comprehensive biography. Woodhouse chronicles the Fiumeepisode from beginning to end with meticulous care. Woodhouse's monograph is the first fully documentedbiography of the author in any language. From a multitude of sources, Woodhouse has assembled an account of his life that combines the virtues of scholarship and readablility to a degree that is both rare and highly impressive.' G.H. McWilliam - MLR

`Woodhouse's account is probably as balanced and as neutral as on could wish ... This highly informative book is written with elegant clarity and a wit that diminishes neither the method of inquiry nor its subject.' Derek Duncan, Italian Studies, Vol 54, 1999

From the Publisher
frontispiece, 8 pp halftones

About the Author
John Woodhouse is Fiat-Serena Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.