Harold Salkin

This book is a sequel to Harold Salkin’s striking autobiographical social review of his age, The Cradle of True Art. In this book he concentrates on the most intimate aspects of his personal life: his early sexual awakening and encounters, and later adventures with women who formed part of his emotional life.

In addition, he contributes a series of strange stories, essays, and poems, some of the latter of which have appeared in literary magazines over the past years. It is in his poetry that his first literary abilities were recognised. Many of the chapter headings indicate the variety of subject matter covered in this remarkable book, for example, memories of an East End childhood in the 1930s; Can men embrace and kiss?; The facts of life; I am going to be a writer; Butchery in Merry England; and The poets have not lied.

         In this interesting book full of variety he writes on such political issues as the holocaust; the manifestations of Jewishness; Communism in its different aspects, and the Cuban crisis. The book promises to be a page-turner for all those interested in 20th and 21st century attitudes and social life to which the former have given rise.