Status
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Description
In a dishevelled west London flat the body of a young man lies crumpled, the victim of a suicide. In a stylish family home less than a mile away is a writer: stranded in mid-life, his one triumph behind him, his family slipping away from him, all he has to hold on to is his self-belief that one day the world will recognise his talents. From these two seemingly unrelated elements, Terence Blacker creates a magnificently compulsive novel of ego, envy, self-deception and, ultimately, self-destruction. Gregory Keays is a man with a wonderful future behind him. A dazzlingly brilliant first work has led to a series of false starts, wrong turnings and critical cold shoulders. Reduced to compiling a book of literary lists and stuck in the mire of his latest fiction, Insignificance, Gregory¿s life turns around when he takes under his wing Peter Gibson, a promising student at the night school where he teaches creative writing. When Gibson kills himself following an argument with his mentor, Gregory pays him the highest compliment ¿ he appropriates his work and passes it off as his own¿ But when Gregory realises that somebody else may know of the existence of the work, he has to decide just how far he is prepared to go for success. And when he calls in Brian McWilliam, ex-villain turned literary star for a spot of freelance work in his old game, it can only lead to one frightening conclusion. A towering literary achievement and a novel of compulsive readability, Kill Your Darlings vividly imagines the terrifying outcome of one man¿s Faustian pact with the demon of success.… (more)
User reviews
When young Peter Gibson enrolls in the writing class, his seeming arrogance puts Gregory off, but it turns out that Peter is an exceptional writer, though so introverted that he hardly speaks. Gregory practically forces Peter to attend readings and launches with him, thinking that eventually Peter will be famous and he'll be remembered as the one who discovered the new talent. Through a series of events, Peter is removed from the picture and Gregory is in possession of Peter's brilliant manuscript, which no one else knows exists. With little hope of regaining his reputation through his own skills, Gregory doesn't hesitate.
Gregory is the epitome of the unreliable narrator. He finds an excuse for nearly everything he does- his incessant cheating, ignoring his son, his failed career, which he blames on his fellow Granta writer, Martin Amis. There's a hilarious scene of Gregory attending a reading by Amis, in which he sits in the audience quietly heckling the author.
In another scene, he visits Peter's parents and believes he's being charming when he's clearly creeping them out.
This is one of my reading highpoints of the year so far.