On the Wing

By Nora Sayre

Book Overview

On the Wing is an enthralling account of a young woman's life abroad during her early twenties. A footloose romantic, Nora Sayre traveled to discover herself as well as to explore unknown countries, and she has written a book of beginnings and dramatic situations: a series of surprises which will startle her readers too. The London that Sayre came to know was a dynamic international city at a time of ferment in the arts.

A superb cultural historian, Sayre shows the connections between private lives and public events. Her witty narrative features portraits of Arthur Koestler, A. J. Liebling, Tyrone Power, and blacklisted American writers, with appearances by Graham Green, Cyril Connolly, and many others--all overlapping with a ferocious literary world animated by jealousies and vengeance. In her Prelude, she writes, "By training the spotlight on others, or by taking a tour of their interiors, you may also reveal a great deal about yours." On the Wing excels as memoir along these very lines: the figures in the landscape tell us much about Nora Sayre.

Living overseas, the author loves and misses her own country as only an expatriate can. Her writing evolves in London, she marries, and she develops the skills and perceptions that will shape her career and infuse her memorable prose. Yet the pull of New York runs as an undercurrent throughout On the Wing, eventually calling Sayre home.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582432147
• ISBN13: 9781582432144
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Counterpoint LLC
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A Young Woman Abroad with Colorful Friends!

I will tell you the truth that I only purchased this book because of the author's relationship with Mai Zetterling which was platonic. I was fascinated by Mai's life ever since I saw her in The Witches. I read her autobiography but I wanted to know more about her life. Well, the author knew Mai Zetterling very well and her children. I felt that the author should have had an index for all the name dropping that goes on. Nora Sayre was young and promising woman when she left New York for London where she writes about her memoirs. The book is written to include names of celebrities and other memorable characters. I liked this book because it also offered a side to Mai Zetterling who I think is forgotten by the film community. She was a remarkable woman who admitted failing as a mother. Mai didn't want children and had her daughter and son, Etienne Lemkow and Dr. Louis Lemkow Zetterling with Tutte Lemkow. She was a character beloved by people like Nora Sayre. The book is well-written and and an easy read but needs an index.