by Clive James
—Times Literary Supplement
Copyright
Copyright © 2013, 2003 by Clive James
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First published as a Norton paperback 2013
Previously published under the title As of This Writing: The Essential Essays, 1968–2002.
“The Dreaming Swimmer,” “Snakecharmers in Texas,” “Primo Levi’s Last Will and Testament,” “Mark Twain, Journalist,” “Casanova Comes Home Again,” Hitler’s Unwitting Exculpator,” “Bertrand Russell Struggles After Heaven,” “Pier Paolo Pain in the Neck,” “Mondo Fellini,” and “Who Was that Masked Man” were originally published in The New Yorker.
“Go Back to the Cold!” reprinted with permission from the New York Review of Books. Copyright © 1977 NYREV, Inc.
“Castalia” reprinted with permission from the New York Review of Books. Copyright © 1980 NYREV, Inc.
“Waugh’s Last Stand” reprinted with permission from the New York Review of Books. Copyright © 1980 NYREV, Inc.
“Sherlockology” reprinted with permission from the New York Review of Books. Copyright © 1975 NYREV, Inc.
Manufacturing by the Haddon Craftsmen, Inc.
Book design by Jam Design
Production manager: Julia Druskin
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
James, Clive, 1939–
As of this writing: the essential essays, 1968–2002 / by Clive James
p.m.
Includes index
ISBN 0-393-05180-3
ISBN 978-0-393-34711-1 (e-book)
I. Title.
PR9619.3.J27A6 2003
8298’.914—dc21
2003041257
ISBN 978-0-393-34636-7 pbk.
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
www.wwnorton.com
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT
ALSO BY CLIVE JAMES
Autobiography
The Blaze of Obscurity
North Face of Soho
May Week Was in June
Falling Towards England
Unreliable Memoirs
Fiction
The Silver Castle
The Man from Japan
The Remake
Brilliant Creatures
Verse
Nefertiti in the Flak Tower
Opal Sunset: Selected Poems, 1958–2008
Angels over Elsinore
The Book of My Enemy: Collected Verse, 1958–2003
Criticism
A Point of View
The Revolt of the Pendulum
Cultural Amnesia
The Meaning of Recognition
Even as We Speak
Reliable Essays: The Best of Clive James
The Dreaming Swimmer
On Television
Snakecharmers in Texas
Glued to the Box
From the Land of Shadows
The Crystal Bucket
First Reactions
At the Pillars of Hercules
Visions Before Midnight
The Metropolitan Critic (new edition, 1994)
Travel
Flying Visits
