PENELOPE LIVELY is the critically acclaimed author of many books for both adults and children, including the Man Booker Prize winning novel Moon Tiger. In recognition of her contributions to literature, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012. She lives in London."
Praise for Dancing Fish and Ammonites Buoyant and propulsive . . .
Dancing Fish and Ammonites is about growing old, about memory and
history, about reading and writing. . . . Lively communicates ideas
and experiences with flashes of narrative color: the tins of water
in which the feet of her crib stood in childhood, to spare her from
Cairo s ants; the layout of a beloved garden; the sight of women in
felt hats and gloves as they walked past the bombed-out rubble of
wartime Britain.
The New York Times Book Review
Lively describes how literature shaped her from the time she was a
small girl growing up in Cairo, and gives a deeply thoughtful
account of the formative powers of consistent literary engagement.
. . . She moves with agility between a wide range of observations
on the personal and social consequences of being old, providing her
readers with a perspective from an unexpected dimension.
The New Yorker
Funny, smart, and poignant . . . Admirers of Penelope Lively's many
fine novels will find the same lucid intelligence at work in her
elegantly written view from old age. . . . Memory, history,
archaeology, paleontology for Penelope Lively, they are all part of
our individual and collective effort to retrieve lost time. She
chronicles her personal engagement in that quest with wit and
rue.
Los Angeles Times
Witty, gentle-humored, sharp . . . Throughout Lively is a keen
observer and an engaging narrator. . . . Subjects that may, at
first glance, seem random and somewhat scattershot take on the
elegant coherence of a deeply satisfying conversation.
All Things Considered
Lively looks out at the world and then back at herself in it,
examining everything through the scrim of a prodigious intelligence
and a memory that is the mind's triumph over time. . . . Dancing
Fish and Ammonites is chock full of anecdote, opinion, insight,
lore and the sheer delight of a life lived fully.
Shelf Awareness
An insightful book of self-reflection from the acclaimed novelist.
. . . Every few years since the 1970s, Lively has published a slim,
delicious novel, mixing sympathy and satire with a Chekhovian focus
on time, mortality, and wasted opportunities. . . . The faithful
will recognize the author s love of archaeology, and many will keep
a pen handy to record titles and authors, since reading is one
activity age has not diminished, and Lively is not shy about musing
over her favorites. . . . Although readers will long for her next
novel, few will regret that she has taken time off to write this
unsentimental, occasionally poignant meditation on a long life.
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Lively examines the many appealing and noteworthy facets of old age
with her expert observer s eye and eloquent touch. . . . These
reflective essays offer a wealth of riches for further study.
Publishers Weekly
Elegant and thoughtful.
Times Magazine (London)
Lively s memoir about age and the pleasures and pains of seniority
is informative, instructive, unexpected, and beautifully
observed.
Vogue (UK)
Lively remains alive to the world, as any novelist should be (and,
for the record, she still writes very fine novels). . . . Dancing
Fish and Ammonites is powerfully consoling. Lively is certainly
sagacious, her words careful and freighted. But there is
girlishness here, too. Things still catch her eye, her attention.
New books. Old stories. Another day for the taking.
The Observer (London)
As tightly coiled as one of the ammonites of the title . . . Lively
s briskness, expressing valuable insight and masking deep feeling,
will delight all those who love her novels. . . . What she offers
is a series of meditations on memory itself and on what still gives
her life purpose: reading and history. Her attitude is rueful but
accepting as it must be. . . . Of course, for most of us, memory
starts to fail as we get older, but Dancing Fish and Ammonites is
itself a wonderfully optimistic testament to intellectual activity
as one way towards, if not eternal youth, then a brightness that
defies the encroaching gloom.
The Daily Mail
A reader s pure delight . . . It works as a whistle-stop history of
the past 80 years from the perspective of one delightful and
bookish woman s life. . . . Reading it is like listening to a
favorite older relative reminisce, if only older relatives were all
well-traveled Oxford graduates with keen humor and a sharp knack
for observing human behavior.
The Independent on Sunday
"
Praise for "Dancing Fish and Ammonites" Buoyant and propulsive . .
. "Dancing Fish and Ammonites "is about growing old, about memory
and history, about reading and writing. . . . Lively communicates
ideas and experiences with flashes of narrative color: the tins of
water in which the feet of her crib stood in childhood, to spare
her from Cairo s ants; the layout of a beloved garden; the sight of
women in felt hats and gloves as they walked past the bombed-out
rubble of wartime Britain.
" The New York Times Book Review"
Lively describes how literature shaped her from the time she was a
small girl growing up in Cairo, and gives a deeply thoughtful
account of the formative powers of consistent literary engagement.
. . . She moves with agility between a wide range of observations
on the personal and social consequences of being old, providing her
readers with a perspective from an unexpected dimension.
" The New Yorker"
Funny, smart, and poignant . . . Admirers of Penelope Lively's many
fine novels will find the same lucid intelligence at work in her
elegantly written view from old age. . . . Memory, history,
archaeology, paleontology for Penelope Lively, they are all part of
our individual and collective effort to retrieve lost time. She
chronicles her personal engagement in that quest with wit and
rue.
" Los Angeles Times"
Witty, gentle-humored, sharp . . . Throughout Lively is a keen
observer and an engaging narrator. . . . Subjects that may, at
first glance, seem random and somewhat scattershot take on the
elegant coherence of a deeply satisfying conversation.
" All Things Considered"
Lively looks out at the world and then back at herself in it,
examining everything through the scrim of a prodigious intelligence
and a memory that is the mind's triumph over time. . . . "Dancing
Fish and Ammonites "is chock full of anecdote, opinion, insight,
lore and the sheer delight of a life lived fully.
" Shelf Awareness"
An insightful book of self-reflection from the acclaimed novelist.
. . . Every few years since the 1970s, Lively has published a slim,
delicious novel, mixing sympathy and satire with a Chekhovian focus
on time, mortality, and wasted opportunities. . . . The faithful
will recognize the author s love of archaeology, and many will keep
a pen handy to record titles and authors, since reading is one
activity age has not diminished, and Lively is not shy about musing
over her favorites. . . . Although readers will long for her next
novel, few will regret that she has taken time off to write this
unsentimental, occasionally poignant meditation on a long life.
" Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
Lively examines the many appealing and noteworthy facets of old age
with her expert observer s eye and eloquent touch. . . . These
reflective essays offer a wealth of riches for further study.
" Publishers Weekly"
Elegant and thoughtful.
" Times Magazine "(London)
Lively s memoir about age and the pleasures and pains of seniority
is informative, instructive, unexpected, and beautifully
observed.
" Vogue" (UK)
Lively remains alive to the world, as any novelist should be (and,
for the record, she still writes very fine novels). . . . Dancing
Fish and Ammonites is powerfully consoling. Lively is certainly
sagacious, her words careful and freighted. But there is
girlishness here, too. Things still catch her eye, her attention.
New books. Old stories. Another day for the taking.
"The Observer" (London)
As tightly coiled as one of the ammonites of the title . . . Lively
s briskness, expressing valuable insight and masking deep feeling,
will delight all those who love her novels. . . . What she offers
is a series of meditations on memory itself and on what still gives
her life purpose: reading and history. Her attitude is rueful but
accepting as it must be. . . . Of course, for most of us, memory
starts to fail as we get older, but "Dancing Fish and Ammonites "is
itself a wonderfully optimistic testament to intellectual activity
as one way towards, if not eternal youth, then a brightness that
defies the encroaching gloom.
" The Daily Mail"
A reader s pure delight . . . It works as a whistle-stop history of
the past 80 years from the perspective of one delightful and
bookish woman s life. . . . Reading it is like listening to a
favorite older relative reminisce, if only older relatives were all
well-traveled Oxford graduates with keen humor and a sharp knack
for observing human behavior.
" The Independent on Sunday"
"
Praise for "Dancing Fish and Ammonites" "Buoyant and propulsive . .
. "Dancing Fish and Ammonites "is about growing old, about memory
and history, about reading and writing. . . . Lively communicates
ideas and experiences with flashes of narrative color: the tins of
water in which the feet of her crib stood in childhood, to spare
her from Cairo's ants; the layout of a beloved garden; the sight of
women in felt hats and gloves as they walked past the bombed-out
rubble of wartime Britain."
"--The New York Times Book Review"
"Lively describes how literature shaped her from the time she was a
small girl growing up in Cairo, and gives a deeply thoughtful
account of the formative powers of consistent literary engagement.
. . . She moves with agility between a wide range of observations
on the personal and social consequences of being old, providing her
readers with a perspective from 'an unexpected dimension.'"
"--The New Yorker"
"Funny, smart, and poignant . . . Admirers of Penelope Lively's
many fine novels will find the same lucid intelligence at work in
her elegantly written 'view from old age.' . . . Memory, history,
archaeology, paleontology--for Penelope Lively, they are all part
of our individual and collective effort to retrieve lost time. She
chronicles her personal engagement in that quest with wit and
rue."
"--Los Angeles Times"
"Witty, gentle-humored, sharp . . . Throughout Lively is a keen
observer and an engaging narrator. . . . Subjects that may, at
first glance, seem random and somewhat scattershot take on the
elegant coherence of a deeply satisfying conversation."
"--All Things Considered"
"Lively looks out at the world and then back at herself in it,
examining everything through the scrim of a prodigious intelligence
and a memory that is 'the mind's triumph over time.' . . . "Dancing
Fish and Ammonites "is chock full of anecdote, opinion, insight,
lore and the sheer delight of a life lived fully."
"--Shelf Awareness"
"An insightful book of self-reflection from the acclaimed novelist.
. . . Every few years since the 1970s, Lively has published a slim,
delicious novel, mixing sympathy and satire with a Chekhovian focus
on time, mortality, and wasted opportunities. . . . The faithful
will recognize the author's love of archaeology, and many will keep
a pen handy to record titles and authors, since reading is one
activity age has not diminished, and Lively is not shy about musing
over her favorites. . . . Although readers will long for her next
novel, few will regret that she has taken time off to write this
unsentimental, occasionally poignant meditation on a long
life."
"--Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
"Lively examines the many appealing and noteworthy facets of old
age with her expert observer's eye and eloquent touch. . . . These
reflective essays offer a wealth of riches for further study."
"--Publishers Weekly"
"Elegant and thoughtful."
"--Times Magazine "(London)
"Lively's memoir about age and the pleasures and pains of seniority
is informative, instructive, unexpected, and beautifully
observed."
"--Vogue" (UK)
"Lively remains alive to the world, as any novelist should be (and,
for the record, she still writes very fine novels). . . . Dancing
Fish and Ammonites is powerfully consoling. Lively is certainly
sagacious, her words careful and freighted. But there is
girlishness here, too. Things still catch her eye, her attention.
New books. Old stories. Another day for the taking."
--"The Observer" (London)
"As tightly coiled as one of the ammonites of the title . . .
Lively's briskness, expressing valuable insight and masking deep
feeling, will delight all those who love her novels. . . . What she
offers is a series of meditations on memory itself and on what
still gives her life purpose: reading and history. Her attitude is
rueful but accepting--as it must be. . . . Of course, for most of
us, memory starts to fail as we get older, but "Dancing Fish and
Ammonites "is itself a wonderfully optimistic testament to
intellectual activity as one way towards, if not eternal youth,
then a brightness that defies the encroaching gloom."
"--The Daily Mail"
"A reader's pure delight . . . It works as a whistle-stop history
of the past 80 years from the perspective of one delightful and
bookish woman's life. . . . Reading it is like listening to a
favorite older relative reminisce, if only older relatives were all
well-traveled Oxford graduates with keen humor and a sharp knack
for observing human behavior."
"--The Independent on Sunday"
Praise for "Dancing Fish and Ammonites" "Buoyant and propulsive . .
. "Dancing Fish and Ammonites "is about growing old, about memory
and history, about reading and writing. . . . Lively communicates
ideas and experiences with flashes of narrative color: the tins of
water in which the feet of her crib stood in childhood, to spare
her from Cairo's ants; the layout of a beloved garden; the sight of
women in felt hats and gloves as they walked past the bombed-out
rubble of wartime Britain."
"--The New York Times Book Review"
"Lively describes how literature shaped her from the time she was a
small girl growing up in Cairo, and gives a deeply thoughtful
account of the formative powers of consistent literary engagement.
. . . She moves with agility between a wide range of observations
on the personal and social consequences of being old, providing her
readers with a perspective from 'an unexpected dimension.'"
"--The New Yorker"
"Funny, smart, and poignant . . . Admirers of Penelope Lively's
many fine novels will find the same lucid intelligence at work in
her elegantly written 'view from old age.' . . . Memory, history,
archaeology, paleontology--for Penelope Lively, they are all part
of our individual and collective effort to retrieve lost time. She
chronicles her personal engagement in that quest with wit and
rue."
"--Los Angeles Times"
"Witty, gentle-humored, sharp . . . Throughout Lively is a keen
observer and an engaging narrator. . . . Subjects that may, at
first glance, seem random and somewhat scattershot take on the
elegant coherence of a deeply satisfying conversation."
"--All Things Considered"
"Lively looks out at the world and then back at herself in it,
examining everything through the scrim of a prodigious intelligence
and a memory that is 'the mind's triumph over time.' . . . "Dancing
Fish and Ammonites "is chock full of anecdote, opinion, insight,
lore and the sheer delight of a life lived fully."
"--Shelf Awareness"
"An insightful book of self-reflection from the acclaimed novelist.
. . . Every few years since the 1970s, Lively has published a slim,
delicious novel, mixing sympathy and satire with a Chekhovian focus
on time, mortality, and wasted opportunities. . . . The faithful
will recognize the author's love of archaeology, and many will keep
a pen handy to record titles and authors, since reading is one
activity age has not diminished, and Lively is not shy about musing
over her favorites. . . . Although readers will long for her next
novel, few will regret that she has taken time off to write this
unsentimental, occasionally poignant meditation on a long
life."
"--Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
"Lively examines the many appealing and noteworthy facets of old
age with her expert observer's eye and eloquent touch. . . . These
reflective essays offer a wealth of riches for further study."
"--Publishers Weekly"
"Elegant and thoughtful."
"--Times Magazine "(London)
"Lively's memoir about age and the pleasures and pains of seniority
is informative, instructive, unexpected, and beautifully
observed."
"--Vogue" (UK)
"Lively remains alive to the world, as any novelist should be (and,
for the record, she still writes very fine novels). . . . Dancing
Fish and Ammonites is powerfully consoling. Lively is certainly
sagacious, her words careful and freighted. But there is
girlishness here, too. Things still catch her eye, her attention.
New books. Old stories. Another day for the taking."
--"The Observer" (London)
"As tightly coiled as one of the ammonites of the title . . .
Lively's briskness, expressing valuable insight and masking deep
feeling, will delight all those who love her novels. . . . What she
offers is a series of meditations on memory itself and on what
still gives her life purpose: reading and history. Her attitude is
rueful but accepting--as it must be. . . . Of course, for most of
us, memory starts to fail as we get older, but "Dancing Fish and
Ammonites "is itself a wonderfully optimistic testament to
intellectual activity as one way towards, if not eternal youth,
then a brightness that defies the encroaching gloom."
"--The Daily Mail"
"A reader's pure delight . . . It works as a whistle-stop history
of the past 80 years from the perspective of one delightful and
bookish woman's life. . . . Reading it is like listening to a
favorite older relative reminisce, if only older relatives were all
well-traveled Oxford graduates with keen humor and a sharp knack
for observing human behavior."
"--The Independent on Sunday"
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