Risky Business

Al Alvarez's writing career has come in many guises. One of the most infliuential post-war critics, he has written profoundly and eloquently about writers and their craft for over 50 years. As the Observer's poetry editor he introduced British readers to the new poetry of the fifties and sixties, most famously of course to the poetry of Sylvia Plath. But Alvarez has also been a passionate amateur of risky pursuits - poker playing, mountaineering, flying in old aeroplanes - and he has written about these subjects with a rare depth, liveliness and perception. Risky Business is a selection of Alvarez's finest essays. Ranging from trenchant literary critcism to accounts of polar expeditions and poker championships, it is a sparkling and eclectic collection from our most unusual man of letters. About the author: Al Alvarez is a poet, a novelist, literary critic, anthologist and author of many highly praised non-fiction books on topics ranging from suicide, divorce and dreams - The Savage God, Life After Marriage, Night - to poker, North Sea oil and mountaineering - The Biggest Game in Town, Offshore, Feding the Rat. His most recent books are New and Selected Poems and The Writer's Voice. He lives in London.