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Fiction Historical

Self Condemned

by (author) Wyndham Lewis

introduction by Allan Pero

Publisher
Dundurn Press
Initial publish date
Aug 2010
Category
Historical, Classics, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781554887354
    Publish Date
    Aug 2010
    List Price
    $26.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781770705203
    Publish Date
    Aug 2010
    List Price
    $9.99

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Description

Self Condemned, originally published in 1954, tells the story of Professor Renarding and his wife, Essie, as they find themselves in Momaco, a fictionalized version of Toronto, following Ren resignation as an academic in London, England. Reduced to a position at the second-rate University of Momaco, Rennd Essie suffer through a bleak and oppressive isolation in a dreary and alien city.

The novel, a devastating, disturbing satire of life in wartime Canada, explores the difficulty individuals face as they struggle to adapt to new surroundings while preserving their sense of wholeness, as well as the bond that develops between people during a shared experience of isolation.

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About the authors

Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) was born on his father's yacht off Nova Scotia but grew up in England. The author of many novels, including The Revenge for Love, The Apes of God, and Tarr, he was associated with T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pund. Besides being a leading figure of the Modernist movement in English literature, Lewis was also a much-praised artist whose portraits of T.S. Eliot now hangs in the Durban Art Gallery in South Africa. Lewis spent the Second World War in Toronto, and his experiences there formed the basis of Self Condemned. In Canada, where Lewis had relatives, he developed a friendship with Marshall McLuhan and lectured at Assumption College, later the University of Windsor.

Wyndham Lewis' profile page

Allan Pero is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Western Ontario. He has published papers primarily on modern British literature. Pero lives in London, Ontario.

Allan Pero's profile page

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