Reviews
Praise for Lost for Words "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Praise for Lost for Words "Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose…" -Anne Enright, New York Times Book Review " Lost for Words is a … satirical romp that showcases [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and Washington Post " Lost for Words is especially witty… a hilarious commentary on the dissonance between the daily lives of authors and how they are perceived publicly." -Maddie Crum, Huffington Post " Lost for Words is... a satirical romp that showcases... [St. Aubyn''s] Waugh-like talent for comedy and his unsparing eye for people's pretensions and self-delusions."-Mikicho Kakutani, The New York Times "Lost for Words... is an entertaining squib... [with] perfectly aimed satirical barbs." -John Banville, The New York Review of Books "St. Aubyn… executes his irony with phlegmatic and tightly controlled prose, underneath which lurks the trenchant exasperation of a veteran." -Esther Yi, Los Angeles Review of Books "[D]eeply eloquent writing… St. Aubyn''s mastery of language-and the resonance it can hew-can''t help but come through." -Brian Gallagher, The Seattle Times " Lost for Words is a withering satire… a deliciously irreverent novel." -Jonathan Yardley, "St. Aubyn's is a subtle, dry, and often dark type of humor… [he] once again skewers privilege in a humorous way." -Jason Diamond, Flavorwire " Lost for Words [is a] savage field report. ...The best and meanest parts of the book are its pitch-perfect parodies of fashionable genres..." -Eugenia Williamson, Boston Globe "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we''re likely to read this year." -Hannah Beckerman, Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster… a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." - Sunday Telegraph "St Aubyn's powers of observation are as sharp as ever." -Henry Hitchings, Financial Times " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving… Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it… [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." - Telegraph magazine "[St. Aubyn is] an adept observer of the elite with a devastating talent for dialogue…" - Chicago Tribune "A tangy jeu d'esprit… [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." - Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist " Lost for Words is a... jaunty, often hilarious farce… very, very funny." -Alexander Benaim, Bookforum "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, A tangy jeu d'esprit... [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence., Lost for Words is a withering satire... a deliciously irreverent novel." --Jonathan Yardley, "St. Aubyn's is a subtle, dry, and often dark type of humor... [he] once again skewers privilege in a humorous way., St. Aubyn... executes his irony with phlegmatic and tightly controlled prose, underneath which lurks the trenchant exasperation of a veteran., Lost for Words is... a satirical romp that showcases... [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and his unsparing eye for people's pretensions and self-delusions., Praise for Lost for Words "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Praise for Lost for Words "Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose…" -Anne Enright, New York Times Book Review " Lost for Words is a … satirical romp that showcases [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and Washington Post " Lost for Words is especially witty… a hilarious commentary on the dissonance between the daily lives of authors and how they are perceived publicly." -Maddie Crum, Huffington Post " Lost for Words is... a satirical romp that showcases... [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and his unsparing eye for people's pretensions and self-delusions."-Mikicho Kakutani, The New York Times Lost for Words... is an entertaining squib... [with] perfectly aimed satirical barbs." -John Banville, The New York Review of Books " Lost for Words is a withering satire… a deliciously irreverent novel." -Jonathan Yardley, "St. Aubyn's is a subtle, dry, and often dark type of humor… [he] once again skewers privilege in a humorous way." -Jason Diamond, Flavorwire " Lost for Words [is a] savage field report. ...The best and meanest parts of the book are its pitch-perfect parodies of fashionable genres..." -Eugenia Williamson, Boston Globe "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we're likely to read this year." -Hannah Beckerman, Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster… a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." - Sunday Telegraph "St Aubyn's powers of observation are as sharp as ever." -Henry Hitchings, Financial Times " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving… Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it… [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." - Telegraph magazine "[St. Aubyn is] an adept observer of the elite with a devastating talent for dialogue…" - Chicago Tribune "A tangy jeu d'esprit… [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." - Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist " Lost for Words is a... jaunty, often hilarious farce… very, very funny." -Alexander Benaim, Bookforum "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Praise for Lost for Words "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we're likely to read this year." - Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster… a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." - Sunday Telegraph " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving… Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it… [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." - Telegraph magazine "A tangy jeu d'esprit… [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." - Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Praise for Lost for Words "Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose…" -Anne Enright, New York Times Book Review "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we're likely to read this year." - Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster… a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." - Sunday Telegraph "St Aubyn's powers of observation are as sharp as ever." -Henry Hitchings, Financial Times " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving… Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it… [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." - Telegraph magazine "A tangy jeu d'esprit… [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." - Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!, Praise for Lost for Words "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Praise for Lost for Words "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose..., "Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose..." -- Anne Enright, New York Times Book Review " Lost for Words is especially witty... a hilarious commentary on the dissonance between the daily lives of authors and how they are perceived publicly." -- Maddie Crum, Huffington Post " Lost for Words is... a satirical romp that showcases... [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and his unsparing eye for people's pretensions and self-delusions." -- Mikicho Kakutani, The New York Times " Lost for Words... is an entertaining squib... [with] perfectly aimed satirical barbs." -- John Banville, The New York Review of Books "St. Aubyn... executes his irony with phlegmatic and tightly controlled prose, underneath which lurks the trenchant exasperation of a veteran." -- Esther Yi, Los Angeles Review of Books "[D]eeply eloquent writing... St. Aubyn's mastery of language--and the resonance it can hew--can't help but come through." -- Brian Gallagher, The Seattle Times " Lost for Words is a withering satire... a deliciously irreverent novel." --Jonathan Yardley "St. Aubyn's is a subtle, dry, and often dark type of humor... [he] once again skewers privilege in a humorous way." --Jason Diamond, Flavorwire " Lost for Words [is a] savage field report. ...The best and meanest parts of the book are its pitch-perfect parodies of fashionable genres..." -- Eugenia Williamson, Boston Globe "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we're likely to read this year." -- Hannah Beckerman, Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster... a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." -- Sunday Telegraph "St Aubyn's powers of observation are as sharp as ever." -- Henry Hitchings, Financial Times " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving... Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it... [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." -- Telegraph magazine "[St. Aubyn is] an adept observer of the elite with a devastating talent for dialogue..." -- Chicago Tribune "A tangy jeu d'esprit... [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." -- Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye... [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." -- The Atlantic "... St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -- Mark Levine, Booklist " Lost for Words is a... jaunty, often hilarious farce... very, very funny." -- Alexander Benaim, Bookforum "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -- Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." -- Kirkus, Praise for Lost for Words "Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose…" -Anne Enright, New York Times Book Review " Lost for Words is a … satirical romp that showcases [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and his unsparing eye for people's pretensions and self-delusions."-Mikicho Kakutani, The New York Times "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we're likely to read this year." - Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster… a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." - Sunday Telegraph "St Aubyn's powers of observation are as sharp as ever." -Henry Hitchings, Financial Times " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving… Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it… [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." - Telegraph magazine "[St. Aubyn is] an adept observer of the elite with a devastating talent for dialogue…" - Chicago Tribune "A tangy jeu d'esprit… [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." - Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist " Lost for Words is a... jaunty, often hilarious farce… very, very funny." -Alexander Benaim, Bookforum "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Lost for Words is especially witty... a hilarious commentary on the dissonance between the daily lives of authors and how they are perceived publicly., A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster... a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written., "Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose…" -Anne Enright, New York Times Book Review " Lost for Words is a … satirical romp that showcases [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and Washington Post " Lost for Words is especially witty… a hilarious commentary on the dissonance between the daily lives of authors and how they are perceived publicly." -Maddie Crum, Huffington Post " Lost for Words is... a satirical romp that showcases... [St. Aubyn''s] Waugh-like talent for comedy and his unsparing eye for people's pretensions and self-delusions."-Mikicho Kakutani, The New York Times "Lost for Words... is an entertaining squib... [with] perfectly aimed satirical barbs." -John Banville, The New York Review of Books "St. Aubyn… executes his irony with phlegmatic and tightly controlled prose, underneath which lurks the trenchant exasperation of a veteran." -Esther Yi, Los Angeles Review of Books "[D]eeply eloquent writing… St. Aubyn''s mastery of language-and the resonance it can hew-can''t help but come through." -Brian Gallagher, The Seattle Times " Lost for Words is a withering satire… a deliciously irreverent novel." -Jonathan Yardley, "St. Aubyn's is a subtle, dry, and often dark type of humor… [he] once again skewers privilege in a humorous way." -Jason Diamond, Flavorwire " Lost for Words [is a] savage field report. ...The best and meanest parts of the book are its pitch-perfect parodies of fashionable genres..." -Eugenia Williamson, Boston Globe "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we''re likely to read this year." -Hannah Beckerman, Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster… a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." - Sunday Telegraph "St Aubyn's powers of observation are as sharp as ever." -Henry Hitchings, Financial Times " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving… Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it… [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." - Telegraph magazine "[St. Aubyn is] an adept observer of the elite with a devastating talent for dialogue…" - Chicago Tribune "A tangy jeu d'esprit… [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." - Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist " Lost for Words is a... jaunty, often hilarious farce… very, very funny." -Alexander Benaim, Bookforum "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, [D]eeply eloquent writing... St. Aubyn's mastery of language--and the resonance it can hew--can't help but come through., Praise for Lost for Words "Everything St. Aubyn writes is worth reading for the cleansing rancor of his intelligence and the fierce elegance of his prose…" -Anne Enright, New York Times Book Review " Lost for Words is a … satirical romp that showcases [St. Aubyn's] Waugh-like talent for comedy and Washington Post " Lost for Words is especially witty… a hilarious commentary on the dissonance between the daily lives of authors and how they are perceived publicly." -Maddie Crum, Huffington Post his unsparing eye for people's pretensions and self-delusions."-Mikicho Kakutani, The New York Times " Lost for Words is a withering satire… a deliciously irreverent novel." -Jonathan Yardley, "St. Aubyn's is a subtle, dry, and often dark type of humor… [he] once again skewers privilege in a humorous way." -Jason Diamond, Flavorwire " Lost for Words [is a] savage field report. ...The best and meanest parts of the book are its pitch-perfect parodies of fashionable genres..." -Eugenia Williamson, Boston Globe "[ Lost for Words ] contains some of the best writing we're likely to read this year." -Hannah Beckerman, Huffington Post "A light-footed romp and a notable taboo-buster… a frisky satire on modern literary manners and the funniest thing St. Aubyn has ever written." - Sunday Telegraph "St Aubyn's powers of observation are as sharp as ever." -Henry Hitchings, Financial Times " Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving… Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it… [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art." - Telegraph magazine "[St. Aubyn is] an adept observer of the elite with a devastating talent for dialogue…" - Chicago Tribune "A tangy jeu d'esprit… [St. Aubyn] is such a bitchy, brilliant prose writer that any impression this book is a mere scathing divertissement is amply compensated for by nearly every sentence." - Metro "St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye… [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore." - The Atlantic "… St. Aubyn offers a hearty satire, full of laughs and groans." -Mark Levine, Booklist " Lost for Words is a... jaunty, often hilarious farce… very, very funny." -Alexander Benaim, Bookforum "Edward St. Aubyn is among the handful of the current giants of English fiction. He has always had an eye for the sort of satire that does not exclude compassion and understanding; now that eye is trained on the absurd world of awarding literary prizes. The results are hilarious!" -Edmund White "A laugh-out-loud sendup of literary prizes . . . Both the author and the reader have great fun." - Kirkus, Lost for Words is a fizzing satire that neatly skewers all the contradictions of literary prize-giving... Lost for Words is very funny, but it also makes some serious points about what is good writing, who is best qualified to make judgments about it... [The Melrose novels] are the most extraordinary transmutation of personal horror into great art., Lost for Words [is a] savage field report. ...The best and meanest parts of the book are its pitch-perfect parodies of fashionable genres..., St. Aubyn has a cut-glass prose style, a gift for unexpected metaphor, and a skewering eye... [He] is a conjurer, able to take that greasy deck of cards and make it perform tricks of a sort rarely seen anymore.
