Publisher Description

In the small hours of January 1st, a man begins to write, having watched Le Grand Concert de la Nuit, a film in which a former lover - Imogen - plays a major role. For the next year, he writes something every day.

His journal is a ritual of commemoration and an investigation of the character of Imogen and her relationships - with himself; with her family and friends; with other lovers.

Imogen is an elusive subject, and The Great Concert of the Night is an intricate text, mixing scenes from the writer's memory and the present day, and scenes from Imogen's films, with observations on a range of subjects, from the visions of female saints to the history of medicine and the festivals of ancient Rome. But one subject comes to occupy him above all: what happens when a person becomes a character on the page.

Notes

Trade paperback. Seeing his former lover Imogen appear in the film Le Grand Concert De La Nuit causes a man to write on each day of the ensuing year, taking in a number of subjects and experimenting with a number of forms, but ultimately preoccupied with the idea of real people transposed into literary characters.

Author Biography

Jonathan Buckley is the acclaimed author of Ghost MacIndoe; So he takes the Dog and Nostalgia. The Great Concert of the Night is his tenth novel. He was the 2015 winner of the BBC National Short Story Award and has also written several guidebooks to various parts of Italy. He lives in Hove.

Review

"A quietly brilliant writer, almost eccentric in his craftsmanship." * The Sunday Times *
Why isn't Jonathan Buckley better known? His novel of love, death and melancholy comedy, The Great Concert of the Night, is captivating. -- John Banville
Ultimately, Buckley's novel is both very entertaining and very sad-a book of high artifice that feels true. Addictive, elegiac, and pristinely paced. * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *
[O]ne reads this beautifully written book because the author provides food for thought with reflections on love, the imagination and death, laced with citations from Marcus Aurelius, Blaise Pascal and the Christian mystic Hildegard von Bingen. There is also a drolly comic side to the story . . . -- Bruce Boucher * The New York Times Book Review *
Admirable and frequently beautiful . . . aptly reflects the capriciousness of memory . . . * Wall Street Journal *
The Great Concert of the Night, Jonathan Buckley's beguiling tenth novel, is . . . an occasion for speculation, reflection, distraction, and aimless wonder. . . . This superb novel generates that strangely familiar sensation that something wonderful has been revealed, momentarily. -- Ron Slate
What a pleasure to be immersed-lost really-in this elegant, erudite, seductive, and deeply moving chronicle of a sensibility and a life. -- Carole Maso
Buckley is a talented verbal painter, with a fine eye for detail. -- Mary Fitzgerald * New Statesman *

Promotional

A mosaic-like novel about love, loss and looking

Long Description

In the small hours of January 1st, a man begins to write, having watched Le Grand Concert de la Nuit, a film in which a former lover - Imogen - plays a major role. For the next year, he writes something every day. His journal is a ritual of commemoration and an investigation of the character of Imogen and her relationships - with himself; with her family and friends; with other lovers. Imogen is an elusive subject, and The Great Concert of the Night is an intricate text, mixing scenes from the writer's memory and the present day, and scenes from Imogen's films, with observations on a range of subjects, from the visions of female saints to the history of medicine and the festivals of ancient Rome. But one subject comes to occupy him above all: what happens when a person becomes a character on the page.

Review Text

"A quietly brilliant writer, almost eccentric in his craftsmanship."

Promotional "Headline"

A mosaic-like novel about love, loss and looking

Author Comments

Acclaimed author: frequently Books of the Year choice

Details