'The brilliant creatures of the title live in a world of lost innocence and vast incomes; publishers, writers, media men and consultants, they belong to a charmed circle where everyone knows everybody else's business and thinks it the most important thing in life. It's all marvellously clever; Clive James doesn't miss a trick. It's funny too. Enjoy, enjoy' The Times
'Foaming with ideas and afterthoughts and after-afterthoughts, Clive James's first novel is a joy to read. He is nearer to Wodehouse than to Waugh. He is not setting out merely to raise laughs. He takes vigorous swipes at most of the unacceptable faces of society, and, as with all good satirists, there is venom in the indignation' Listener
'I thought I was going to hate Brilliant Creatures, the first novel by Clive James. But before long I found myself greatly enjoying this romping satire of London literary life. The chief pleasure of Brilliant Creatures lies in the writing, which sizzles off the page with a rare merriment' Illustrated London News
'James is up on a tightrope of style, wobbling away, relentlessly funny. James's achievement, beyond the fizz and the jokes, is to have created characters who begin t be likeable, and who make and live with a decision worth pondering' London Review of Books Clive James is the author of more than forty books. As well as essays, verse and novels, he has published literary and television criticism, travel writing, and three volumes of autobiography. In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature.
His work includes Unreliable Memoirs, Poetry Notebook and his own translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy. Brilliant Creatures is Clive James's first novel – a vibrant satire on the media set
