Delight

Name: Delight
Brand: Harper UK
Availability: InStock
Author: J. B. Priestley
ISBN: 9780008585723

Author: J. B. Priestley

Narrator: Sean Baker

Unabridged: 4 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperNorth

Published: 04/13/2023

Categories: Nonfiction, Literary Collections, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, Humor, Self-help, Personal Growth, Travel, Essays & Travelogues

Synopsis

‘An exquisitely-written, generous, funny, thoughtful book about the everyday joys of being alive. I love it.’ Dolly Alderton ‘J. B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th Century and it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.’ Dame Judi Dench ‘My apology, my little bit of penitence, for having grumbled so much, for having darkened the breakfast table, almost ruined the lunch, nearly silence the dinner party, for all the fretting and chafing, grousing and croaking, for the old glum look and the thrust-out lower lip. So my long-suffering kinsfolk, my patient friends, may a glimmer of that delight which has so often possessed me, but perhaps too frequently in secret, now reach you from these pages.’ There are times when there doesn’t seem much to smile about. And for those times, there is this book. J. B Priestley’s 1949 classic teaches us that joy may be found in even the simplest things, and that we all have the capacity to appreciate them. Delight Combining poignant memories of his childhood with glimpses of his interior world, panoramas of life abroad with thoughts about writing, music, theatre – some strictly personal, some universal –this highly readable book bursts with humour and literary flare on every page.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Anwen on September 10, 2015

A collection of essays on the things - spiritual, intellectual and material - that provide the author with a frisson of delight. Some of these I immediately identified with (the sublime smell of a cooking sausage), others I will never have knowledge of (Priestley was a great pipe-smoker); every essa......more

Goodreads review by Chris on February 04, 2025

Glimpses and glimmers of brilliance and a beautiful turn of phrase at times but dated and difficult to associate with also.......more

Goodreads review by Keith on November 03, 2012

J.B. Priestley has long been one of my favourite authors, indeed he is probably top of the list because I not only enjoyed most of the things he wrote, but I admired him as a great literary all-rounder and a true professional --the sort of author who could turn his hand to any kind of writing and do......more

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on July 23, 2008

An utterly charming book of essays about things that delight Priestley (an otherwise born complainer) - i am thinking of beginning my own list of delights. Some are striking gifts to the spirit, others are hilarious, and then, well, there are the ones on pipe tobacco and smoking, which don't speak s......more

Goodreads review by Cirtnecce on July 02, 2020

J.B. Priestley is far too well known for any introductions; a prolific writer, he has written books and plays enough to fill shelves after shelves. I too have read many of his works and loved them and like Karen mentioned in her Blog, enjoyed the slightly grumpy tone of his writings.Delight however......more

Quotes

‘J. B. Priestley was one of the great authors of the twentieth century and a prose writer of great skill and charm. His essays were in the grand tradition of Hazlitt and Lamb, Chesterton and Belloc. I am delighted to hear that is back in print – these wonderful essays are among his finest.’ ‘I had this book pressed into my hands by someone during an unsteady time and it helped pick the lint off my jacket, straighten my lapels and push me out into the world again. It helped me appreciate my own pockets of pleasure.’ 'A vastly talented and exceptionally versatile and wise writer.' 'Priestley was volcanic, fertile … and never dull.' ‘A marvellous writer.’ ‘We all know his plays, now is the time to be re-introduced to his novels.’ ‘He belongs in a great English realist tradition that includes Bennett and Galsworthy.’ ‘An important book that has a literary importance and social value that far exceeds the time it was written.’ ‘Written in the elegant, simple language which was an essential part of Priestley’s brilliance. It is, in consequence, a masterpiece.’