Elegy for Iris [Paperback]

With remarkable tenderness, John Bayley recreates his passionate love affair with Iris Murdoch--world-renowned writer and philosopher, and his wife of forty-two years--and poignantly describes the dimming of her brilliance due to Alzheimer's disease.Elegy for Irisis a story about the ephemeral beauty of youth and the sobering reality of what it means to grow old, but its ultimate power is that Bayley discovers great hope and joy in his celebration of Iris's life and their love. In its grasp of life's frailty and its portrayal of one of the great literary romances of this century,Elegy for Irisis a mesmerizing work of art that will be read for generations.

John Bayleyis an eminent literary critic who taught at Oxford for more than 30 years, and was chairman of the Booker Prize Committee.Iris Murdochdied in February of 1999.

This splendid book enlarges our imagination of the range and possibilities of love. Mary Gordon, The New York Times Book Review

Magnificently, hauntingly humane. Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

Bayley's restrained and elegant love song to his wife of 42 years . . . is beautiful and heartbreaking. Full of spirit, generous and resilient. Gail Caldwell, The Boston Globe

A beautifully rendered portrait . . . Bayley reaffirms how suffering can ennoble the human heart. [Elegy for Iris] is an affecting remembrance of one of the great literary marriages of our time. It celebrates the victory of life--and love. Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A heart-melting love story and an erudite inquiry into the nature of personality, memory, and invention. Wise and full of grace. Shelby Hearon, The Chicago Tribune

Elegy for Irisis a work of art. As beautiful as it is wise,Elegy for Irishas already become a classic memoir and a remedy for modern love. Read it and, if you dare, give it to someone you lovl�