Bruce Chatwin Popular Books

Bruce Chatwin Biography & Facts

Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 1940 – 18 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, In Patagonia (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, interested in bringing to light unusual tales. He won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel On the Black Hill (1982), while his novel Utz (1988) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2008 The Times ranked Chatwin as number 46 on their list of "50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945." Chatwin was born in Sheffield. After completing his secondary education at Marlborough College, he went to work at the age of 18 at Sotheby's in London, where he gained an extensive knowledge of art and eventually ran the auction house's Antiquities and Impressionist Art departments. In 1966 he left Sotheby's to read archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, but he abandoned his studies after two years to pursue a career as a writer. The Sunday Times Magazine hired Chatwin in 1972. He travelled the world for work and interviewed figures such as the politicians Indira Gandhi and André Malraux. He left the magazine in 1974 to visit Patagonia, Argentina, a trip that inspired his first book, In Patagonia (1977). He wrote five other books, including The Songlines (1987), about Australia, which was a bestseller. His work is credited with reviving the genre of travel writing, and his works influenced other writers such as William Dalrymple, Claudio Magris, Philip Marsden, Luis Sepúlveda, Rich Cohen, and Rory Stewart. Life Early years Chatwin was born on 13 May 1940 at the Shearwood Road Nursing Home in Sheffield, England, to Charles Leslie Chatwin, a Birmingham solicitor and Royal Naval Reserve officer during World War II, and Margharita (née Turnell), daughter of a Sheffield knife manufacturer's clerk. She was born in Sheffield and worked for the local Conservative party prior to her marriage. The Chatwin family were well known in Birmingham, with Charles Chatwin's grandfather, Julius Alfred Chatwin, an eminent architect.Chatwin's early years were spent moving regularly with his mother while his father was at sea. Prior to his birth, Chatwin's parents had lived at Barnt Green, Worcestershire, but Margharita moved to her parents' house in Dronfield, near Sheffield, shortly before giving birth. Mother and son remained there for a few weeks. Worried about The Blitz, Margharita sought a safer place to stay. She took her son with her as they travelled to stay with various relatives during the war. They would remain in one place until Margharita decided to move, either because of concern for their safety, or because of friction among family members. Later in life Chatwin recalled of the war, "Home, if we had one, was a solid black suitcase called the Rev-Robe, in which there was a corner for my clothes and my Mickey Mouse gas mask."One of their stays during the war was at the home of his paternal grandparents, who had a curiosity cabinet that fascinated him. Among the items it contained was a "piece of brontosaurus" (actually a mylodon, a giant sloth), which had been sent to Chatwin's grandmother by her cousin Charles Milward. Travelling in Patagonia, Milward had discovered the remains of a giant sloth, which he later sold to the British Museum. He sent his cousin a piece of the animal's skin, and members of the family mistakenly referred to it as a "piece of brontosaurus". The skin was later lost, but it inspired Chatwin decades later to visit and write about Patagonia.After the war, Chatwin lived with his parents and younger brother Hugh (1944 – 2012) in West Heath in Birmingham, where his father had a law practice. At the age of seven he was sent to boarding school at Old Hall School in Shropshire, and then Marlborough College, in Wiltshire. An unexceptional student, Chatwin garnered attention from his performances in school plays. While at Marlborough, Chatwin attained A-levels in Latin, Greek, and Ancient History.Chatwin had hoped to read Classics at Merton College, Oxford, but the end of National Service in the United Kingdom meant there was more competition for university places. He was forced to consider other options. His parents discouraged the ideas he offered: an acting career or work in the Colonial Service in Kenya. Instead, Chatwin's father asked one of his clients for a letter of introduction to the auction house Sotheby's. An interview was arranged, and Chatwin secured a job there. Art and archaeology In 1958, Chatwin moved to London to begin work as a porter in the Works of Art department at Sotheby's. Chatwin was ill-suited for this job, which included dusting objects that had been kept in storage. Sotheby's moved him to a junior cataloguer position, working in both the Antiquities and Impressionist Art departments. This position enabled him to develop his eye for art, and he quickly became known for his ability to discern forgeries. His work as a cataloguer also taught him to describe objects in a concise manner and required him to research these objects. Chatwin advanced to become Sotheby's expert on Antiquities and Impressionist art and would later run both departments. Many of Chatwin's colleagues thought he would eventually become chairman of the auction house.During this period Chatwin travelled extensively for his job and also for adventure. Travel offered him a relief from the British class system, which he found stifling. An admirer of Robert Byron and his book, The Road to Oxiana, he travelled twice to Afghanistan. He also used these trips to visit markets and shops, where he would buy antiques that he would resell at a profit in order to supplement his income from Sotheby's. He became friends with artists, art collectors and dealers. One friend, Howard Hodgkin, painted Chatwin in The Japanese Screen (1962). Chatwin said he was the "acid green smear on the left."Chatwin was ambivalent about his sexual orientation and had affairs with both men and women during this period of his life. One of his girlfriends, Elizabeth Chanler, an American and a descendant of John Jacob Astor, was a secretary at Sotheby's. Chanler had earned a degree in history from Radcliffe College and worked at Sotheby's New York offices for two years before transferring to their London office in 1961. Her love of travel and independent nature appealed to Chatwin.In the mid-1960s Chatwin grew unhappy at Sotheby's. There were various reasons for his disenchantment. Both women and men found Chatwin attractive, and Peter Wilson, then chairman of Sotheby's, used this appeal to the auction house's advantage when using Chatwin to try to persuade wealthy individuals to sell their art collections. Chatwin became increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. Later in life Chatwin also spoke of having become "burnt out" and said, "In the end I felt I might just as well be working for a rather superior funeral parlour. One's whole life seemed to be spent.... Discover the Bruce Chatwin popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Bruce Chatwin books.

Best Seller Bruce Chatwin Books of 2024

  • Under the Sun synopsis, comments

    Under the Sun

    Bruce Chatwin, Nicholas Shakespeare & Elizabeth Chatwin

    "Wonderful...the closest we are ever going to get to a Chatwin autobiography." William Dalrymple, The Times Literary Supplement (London)The celebrated author of such beloved works...

  • The Best of Bruce Chatwin synopsis, comments

    The Best of Bruce Chatwin

    Bruce Chatwin

    A Whitbread Award–winning novel of Welsh twins and an international bestseller about Aboriginal culture by “the brilliant English writer and stylish nomad” (Los Angeles Times). &#x...

  • A Coup in Turkey synopsis, comments

    A Coup in Turkey

    Jeremy Seal

    The most dramatic, revealing and littleknown story in Turkey's history which illuminates the nation'Through the spellbinding career of a single, illfated leader, Jeremy Seal illum...

  • Mirror To Damascus synopsis, comments

    Mirror To Damascus

    Colin Thubron

    A 50th anniversary edition of Colin Thubron's celebrated first book, a portrait of Syria's capital city, with a new introduction by the author.Described by the author as simply 'a ...

  • The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse synopsis, comments

    The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse

    Geoffrey Bownas & Anthony Thwaite

    Poetry remains a living part of the culture of Japan today. The clichés of everyday speech are often to be traced to famous ancient poems, and the traditional forms of poetry are w...

  • The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry synopsis, comments

    The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry

    Gerald Moore

    'Poetry, always foremost of the arts in traditional Africa, has continued to compete for primacy against the newer forms of prose fiction and theatre drama.' This wonderfully compr...

  • In Patagonia synopsis, comments

    In Patagonia

    Bruce Chatwin

    The masterpiece of travel writing that revolutionized the genre and made its author famous overnight An exhilarating look at a place that still retains the exotic mystery of a...

  • The Gold Machine synopsis, comments

    The Gold Machine

    Iain Sinclair

    A New Statesman Book of the Year, 2021‘Follow Iain Sinclair into the cloud jungles of Peru and emerge questioning all that seemed so solid and immutable.’ Barry MilesFrom the award...

  • The Penguin Book of French Poetry synopsis, comments

    The Penguin Book of French Poetry

    William Rees

    This collection illuminates the uniquely fascinating era between 1820 and 1950 in French poetry a time in which diverse aesthetic ideas conflicted and converged as poetic forms ev...

  • Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths synopsis, comments

    Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths

    George Best

    'We were the first generation to have to deal with the modern stardom of football. Some handled it better than others' George BestWritten in the months before he died, Hard Tackles...

  • Viaggio nel Territorio. Destinazione III Municipio synopsis, comments

    Viaggio nel Territorio. Destinazione III Municipio

    AA.VV & Andrea Dezzi

    Sintesi e selezione di materiali dal progetto PICA 2011 "Saper leggere il territorio" III Municipio di Roma Capitale. Autori: Canalini Sara, Ciacci Federica, Di Prospero Giovanni,...

  • Previous Convictions synopsis, comments

    Previous Convictions

    A.A. Gill

    Critic, essayist and cultural savant A.A. Gill is probably the most widely read columnist in Britain. His books The Angry Island and A.A. Gill is away have found delighted fans in ...

  • Napoleon und ich synopsis, comments

    Napoleon und ich

    Sylvain Tesson

    Eine verrückte Zeitreise von Moskau nach ParisMit alten „Ural“Motorrädern auf den Spuren Napoleons, 4000 Kilometer durch Eis und Schnee, von der Beresina zurück nach Paris. Voller ...

  • The Viceroy of Ouidah synopsis, comments

    The Viceroy of Ouidah

    Bruce Chatwin

    Bruce Chatwin’s debut novel:  “Conrad’s Heart of Darkness seen through a microscope” (The Atlantic)In this vivid, powerful novel, Chatwin tells of Francisco Manoel de Silva, a...

  • Reinvented Lives synopsis, comments

    Reinvented Lives

    Charles Handy & Elizabeth Handy

    Twentyeight women, ranging from Anita Roddick and Prue Leith to less wellknown names, write their own personal stories which are accompanied by Elizabeth Handy's black and white ph...

  • Circus of Dreams synopsis, comments

    Circus of Dreams

    John Walsh

    Something extraordinary happened to the UK literary scene in the 1980s. In the space of eight years, a generation of young British writers took the literary novel into new realms o...

  • Domestic Manners of the Americans synopsis, comments

    Domestic Manners of the Americans

    Fanny Trollope

    When Fanny Trollope set sail for America in 1827 with hopes of joining a Utopian community of emancipated slaves, she took with her three of her children and a young French artist,...

  • The Fly Trap synopsis, comments

    The Fly Trap

    Fredrik Sjöberg

    Fredrik Sjöberg's Swedish bestseller about summer, islands, freedom and boundaries. 'The light, the warmth, the smells, the mist, the birdsong the moths. Who can sleep? Who wants...

  • Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt synopsis, comments

    Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt

    Rosalie David

    The ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile their life source was a divine gift. Religion and magic permeated their civilization, and this book provides a unique insight into th...