Compton MacKenzie: A Life

by Andro Linklater

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557860106
• ISBN13: 9781557860101
• Release Date: May 1988
• Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 7.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An essential look at an all but forgotten Scottish writer

It was natural that Andro Linklater should write the biography of Compton Mackenzie. His father, Eric Linklater ("Magnus Merriman," "A Prince in the Heather" etc.,) was a well-known writer and friend of Mackenzie throughout much of his life. It was just a coincidence that Andro could and would write. A complex man (whoever met a simple Scot?), Mackenzie was in his prime in the early part of this century and much of what he wrote all those years ago is slowly fading into the mists of time. Perhaps he is best remembered for "Whiskey Galore," a comedy about a boatload of Scotch washing up on the shore of an island in the Hebrides, and the fun which ensued. In a sense, it was his moment of glory (perhaps his "15 minutes"), since the 1948 film made from the book was popular for many years. Yet he wrote a formidable number of other good novels (sometimes set in Scotland itself, but not always) such as "Sinister Street," and numerous essays and the odd memoir. Like his books, Mackenzie was a colourful character and makes a good subject for biography, which Linklater has competently provided.