A Single Man. Prater Violet

This collection includes two works that reveal different facets of Christopher Isherwood’s talent—his subtle, lyrical psychology and his caustic satire. “A Single Man” is a piercing story of one day in the life of a not-so-young Englishman, a professor at an American university. Not long ago, he suffered an irreparable loss, yet with his last strength he tries to pretend that everything is fine and to live on. However, each day sinks him deeper and deeper into the bitter “loneliness in a crowd.” “Prater Violet,” on the other hand, is a hilarious odyssey by a young writer through the world of the “golden age” of 1930s cinema—with its “glamour and misery,” covert intrigues, and professional ambitions; with ridiculous scripts, real and invented schemes by competitors and everything else that usually escapes the spotlight.