J.M. Coetzee & the Life of Writing

David Attwell is Professor of English at the University of York. He was educated at the University of Natal in Durban, the University of Cape Town, and the University of Texas at Austin. He has published widely in postcolonial studies, specialising in South African literature. With Derek Attridge he co-edited The Cambridge History of South African Literature (2012). His previous books include J.M. Coetzee: South Africa and the Politics of Writing (1993), J.M. Coetzee, Doubling the Point: Essays and Interviews (1992) of which he was editor and interviewer, and Rewriting Modernity: Studies in Black South African Literary History (2005 and 2006).

a fascinating account... Attwell's writing is finely attuned to his subject matter, making for a careful consideration of the life and work of a careful novelist

• Preface. The Coetzee Papers ; 1. An alphabet of trees. Autobiography. The uses of impersonality. ; 2. Recusant Afrikaners. Identity drift ; 3. 1 January 1970. The beginning. Dusklands ; 4. Karoo. The beloved landscape. Life & Times of Michael K, In the Heart of the Country ; 5. The Burning of the Books. Censorship in the life of writing ; 6. Writing revolution. Waiting for the Barbarians ; 7. Suburban bandit. Michael K as outlaw ; 8. Crusoe, Defoe, Friday. Foe ; 9. Mother. Age of Iron ; 10. Father. Summertime ; 11. The Shot Tower. The Master of Petersburg ; 12. Migrations. Irreconcilable lives. Elizabeth Costello, Disgrace ; 13. The third stage. Australia. Slow Man, Diary of a Bad Year, The Childhood of Jesus