The World in the Evening

1999
Author:

Christopher Isherwood

The celebrated English writer’s first novel about Americans and their values, now back in print.

Against the backdrop of World War II, The World in the Evening charts the emotional development of Stephen Monk, an aimless Englishman living in California. After his second marriage suddenly ends, Stephen finds himself living with a relative in a small Pennsylvania Quaker town, haunted by memories of his prewar affair with a younger man during a visit to the Canary Islands. The world traveler comes to a gradual understanding of himself and of his newly adopted homeland.

"Isherwood is the best prose writer in English." --Gore Vidal

The best prose writer in English.

Gore Vidal

Against the backdrop of World War II, The World in the Evening charts the emotional development of Stephen Monk, an aimless Englishman living in California. After his second marriage suddenly ends, Stephen finds himself living with a relative in a small Pennsylvania Quaker town, haunted by memories of his prewar affair with a younger man during a visit to the Canary Islands. The world traveler comes to a gradual understanding of himself and of his newly adopted homeland.

When first published in 1953, The World in the Evening was notable for its clear-eyed depiction of European and American mores, sexuality, and religion. Today, readers herald Isherwood’s frank portrayal of bisexuality and his early appreciation of low and high camp.

Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986) was born in England and later lived in Berlin and finally California. A pioneer in exploring gay themes in his writing, he is best known for his classic works The Berlin Stories, the basis of the movie and stage successes I Am a Camera and Cabaret. He is also the author of Down There on a Visit, The Memorial, and A Meeting by the River, all available in paperback editions from the University of Minnesota Press.

The best prose writer in English.

Gore Vidal

By reissuing these books by Christopher Isherwood, the University of Minnesota Press makes them available to a new generation of readers. All of Isherwood’s books have a strong autobiographical element, so any one of them connects to the whole of his fascinating life, and no one should have to miss a moment of it.

Don Bachardy