Diaries: Volume One, 1939-1960

Description

These are the diaries of writer Christopher Isherwood, chronicling his life from 1939, when he emigrated to the United States, through the 1960s, some of the most turbulent years of his career, and into the early 1980s. He reflects on major turning points in his life including the spiritual crisis he went through as World War II began, his discipleship (along with Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard) with the Hindu monk Swami Prabhavananda and his decision to become a pacifist. It continues with his accounts of his intense social life in Hollywood, his career as a screenwriter and his many sexual affairs. He also talks about his long-term companion, Don Bachardy whoe burgeoning career pulled Isherwood into the 1970s art scenes in Los Angeles, New York, and London, where we meet Rauschenberg, Ruscha, and Warhol, as well as Hockney and Kitaj. Collaborating with Bachardy on scripts for the prizewinning Frankenstein and the Broadway fiasco A Meeting by the River, Isherwood extended his ties in Hollywood and in the theater world.