The Letters of Kenneth Tynan- drama critic, talent snob, intellectual dandy, inveterate campaigner - provide a record of a soul: written between the ages of 11 and 53, they not only chart the extraordinary parabola of his career but show the constancy of his quest for grace, style and effortless wit.

A farmer’s daughter, a convent girl, a lover of the Irish countryside, a poet, novelist and short story writer, a journalist, a friend of the English during war and peace, a fighter for justice, a Catholic, but able to see and decry the interference of religion in politics: this is in part Katharine Tynan Hinkson (1859–1931), usually known as Katharine Tynan, who lived in Ireland and England, and wrote through the turbulent times of Irish politics, suffrage, the Great War, and civil war in Ireland. Her background was rural Ireland, her father being a prosperous land-owning farmer. Educated locally and at a convent, she left aged fourteen and spent much time reading and enjoying the countryside, which became a foundation for her poetry and storytelling. She was aware of the politics of Ireland through her politically active father, and she joined the short-lived Ladies’ Land League in 1881 and was a fervent admirer of Charles Stewart Parnell. Her first major literary friendship was with her mentor, the Jesuit Father Matthew Russell, editor of the Irish Monthly, who published much of her work. He introduced Katharine to the Catholic literary couple Wilfrid and Alice Meynell in London in 1884, a visit which formed a deep love and admiration for Alice. The Meynells published much of her poetry in the Weekly Register and Merry England. Katharine made many visits to England and settled in England in 1893 after her marriage to Harry Hinkson, making it her home until returning to Ireland in 1912. After the Great War, she moved between England and Ireland, finally settling in London where she died. Katharine’s life spanned Anglo-Irish politics, the suffrage movement, the Easter Rising of 1916, the Great War (her two sons served in the British Army) and its aftermath. Her letters cover these events and the friendships and correspondence with many literary persons, including George William Russell (A.E.), G. K. Chesterton, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, Clement King Shorter, the writer Frank James Mathew and the novelist May Sinclair. An early friend of W. B. Yeats, she was seen as part of the Irish literary revival, although in a minor role. Throughout her life she suffered from very poor eyesight. She published five autobiographies, which, together with the letters, provide us with valuable insight into her life and times.

Kathleen Tynan traces her husband's life from his illegitimate birth, through his rebellious years at Oxford, to his career as the first post-war British myth - actor, director, writer, flamboyant personality and provocateur of the establishment on both sides of the Atlantic.

One of the publishing sensations of the year' Daily Telegraph..'Packed with scandal and salacious anecdotes about his famous friends and, believe me, it is premier-cru gossip' Tatler

The only collection of Tynan's star-studded profiles. Selected and edited by his widow and biographer, Kathleen Tynan, with a foreword by Simon Callow. Kenneth Tynan – the 20th century's most influential writer on theatre and performance – wrote profiles of many of the most significant performers and writers of his day. Amongst the fifty assembled here are profiles of actors such as Garbo, Bogart, Cagney, Olivier and Gielgud; the directors George Cukor, Peter Brook and Joan Littlewood; writers such as Bertolt Brecht, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams; and comedians as diverse as Mel Brooks, Eric Morecambe, W.C. Fields and Lenny Bruce. 'We had thought to have seen the last of Tynan. Now, suddenly, a new volume appears: a collection of fifty profiles of the famous... More than a third of the pieces are new - at least in book form - which in itself is cause enough for dancing... One does not have to like theatre to cherish these pieces... It is a book to savour in small doses, the better to postpone the sadness of reaching its end' Hugh Leonard 'Tynan was unique in that he combined the soul of an artist with the descriptive skill of a journalist... He was an ideal profile writer, as this book eloquently testifies' Michael Billington, Guardian

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