Untold Stories [Paperback]

An instant bestseller in the U.K.,Untold Storiesbrings together the finest and funniest writing by one of England's best-known literary figures. In his first major collection sinceWriting Home,Alan Bennett opens with a poignant memoir of growing up in Leeds and closes with an account of his cancer diagnosis and recovery, with everything from his much-celebrated essays to his irreverent comic pieces and reviews in between.

Surprising, funny, and deeply affecting . . . [Alan Bennett] is a prose stylist of disarming grace and sly humor. The New York Times Book Review

Untold Storiesis intelligent, educated, engaging, humane, self-aware, cantankerous, and irresistibly funny. You want it to go on forever. The Sunday Times (London)

Painfully intimate, stoically comic . . . Bennett's deadpan, self-deprecating humor translates perfectly. David Gates, O, The Oprah Magazine

A great achievement and a book of lasting value. The Guardian (U.K.)

A masterpiece of reminiscence. There is probably no other distinguished English man of letters more instantly likable than Bennett. Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World

It is a glaring example of modern English frivolity that [Bennett] is not simply regarded--with awe and terror--as one of the greatest living English writers. . . . If you want to understand the cultural wars in England now, and if you want to come to grips with a great writer and a challenging mind, then Bennett is your man. The Nation

While he plays the old crank who is put upon by the world as it is, Bennett reveals an eye for detail and a feel for the complexity of human interactions. Publishers Weekly

[Bennett] is a fine storyteller. . . . His memories of fellow actors Peter Cook and Dudly Moore are wry, witty, and honest. Library Journal

Alan Bennetthas been one of England's leading dramatists sinlÓ