An Accidental Man
  • Published: 1 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407018225
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

An Accidental Man

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EBook
1 Sep 2010
Paperback
1 Apr 2003
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'Of the novelists who have made their bow since the war she seems to me to be the most remarkable' Raymond Mortimer

This is the story of the comic, relentless struggle for survival of Austin Gibson Grey, the accidental man. Austin is one of those people who thrives through the destruction of others. The others, in Austin's case, include his successful elder brother, Matthew, and the women who, one after the other, are convinced that they can 'save' him. In this role we meet Dorina, Austin's estranged wife, Mitzi, his alcoholic landlady, and a selection of other women who involve themselves in Austin's fate, with hilarious and appalling results.
  • Published: 1 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407018225
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400
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About the author

Iris Murdoch

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne’s College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.

Iris Murdoch made her writing debut in 1954 with Under the Net. Her twenty-six novels include the Booker prize-winning The Sea, The Sea (1978), the James Tait Black Memorial prize-winning The Black Prince (1973) and the Whitbread prize-winning The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974). Her philosophy includes Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953) and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992); other philosophical writings, including 'The Sovereignty of Good' (1970), are collected in Existentialists and Mystics (1997).

portrait photo of Iris Murdoch

Also by Iris Murdoch

The Sea, The Sea & A Severed Head
Living on Paper
The Black Prince (Vintage Classics Murdoch Series)
The Bell (Vintage Classics Murdoch Series)
A Word Child
The Time Of The Angels
Henry And Cato
See all

Praise for An Accidental Man

Iris Murdoch is incapable of writing without fascinating and beautiful colour

The Times

Iris Murdoch is incapable of writing without fascinating and beautiful colour

The Times

Iris Murdoch was one of the best and most influential writers of the twentieth century

Peter Conradi, Guardian

Iris Murdoch was one of the best and most influential writers of the twentieth century

Peter Conradi, Guardian

A distinguished novelist of a rare kind

Kingsley Amis

A distinguished novelist of a rare kind

Kingsley Amis

Behind her books one feels a power of intellect quite exceptional in a novelist

Sunday Times

Behind her books one feels a power of intellect quite exceptional in a novelist

Sunday Times

Iris Murdoch really knows how to write, can tell a story, delineate a character, catch an atmosphere with deadly accuracy

John Betjemen

Iris Murdoch really knows how to write, can tell a story, delineate a character, catch an atmosphere with deadly accuracy

John Betjemen