Where Did It All Go Right?

by Al Álvarez

Al Alvarez, poet, critic, novelist, sportsman, and poker player, has for seventy years been hard to categorize. He is the author of the best-selling study of suicide, THE SAVAGE GOD, and as poetry editor of the OBSERVER, he has known most of the leading poets of the second half of last century. For a time he was an influential critic and his anthology THE NEW POETRY scandalised the literary community. Much of the liveliness of Alvarez's story is inspired by the ambiguous fate of being an English Jew. Although his family had been settled in London for more than two centuries, being Jewish always made them feel like outsiders. He went From Oundle, an English public school, to Oxford, where an academic career beckoned; instead he embarked on life as a freelance writer. Meanwhile he climbed mountains, played poker and wrote books about these pastimes which are now regarded as classics. WHERE DID IT ALL GO RIGHT? is his memorable, irreverent account of that journey.

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Alfred Alvarez was an English poet, novelist, essayist and critic who published under the name A. Alvarez and Al Alvarez.

Reviews

[Marieke Navin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carried on my obsession with Al.

[PAUL MCDONAGH · Rating 5 out of 5]

marvellous

Really enjoyed it. He lived a decent life. Definitely going to read a few of his other books especially the poker one

[Diego Palma · Rating 5 out of 5]

No sé ustedes, pero soy fetichista de algunos autores y con Álvarez me pasa que quiero y debo leerlo todo; y más allá de ser un maestro con la pluma, aquí se luce en un autobiografía literaria, en donde indaga en el origen por su amor a los libros, la música y el arte. Con una ironía mordaz, analiza su origen familiar judío-británico, los días de Londres bajo el fuego alemán, para luego retratar a esa generación maldita de poetas que tuvo por cabezas de serie a Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, John Berryman y Ted Hughes; de cada uno de ellos habla con soltura, más allá de la cercanía que existió, para ir a un análisis más concreto de sus motivaciones; a Álvarez no se le escapa nada, y es más, el libro termina siendo una clase de crítica, edición y frases memorables en torno al oficio. Lo amé y no quería que terminara. Por suerte los dioses y Borges inventaron la relectura.

[Ever Roman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Empieza bien y luego decae, es su libro más superficial, salvo en pequeños pasajes. Por momentos abre la posibilidad encontrar algo más profundo cuando empieza a contar una cosa -montañismo, matrimonios, familia-, pero no llega a concretar nada. Las últimas páginas se cae de las manos. Un libro epidérmico