Overview

The dazzling new novel about fame, time and nostalgia from the bestselling author of Middle England A young woman named Calista meets the famed Hollywood director Billy Wilder in the sweltering summer of 1976. She knows nothing about him or his work, but this chance encounter will change her life for good. But while Calista is thrilled with her new adventure, Wilder himself - struggling to raise the money for his next feature film - is living with the realisation that his star may be on the wane. In his new novel that is, by turns, funny, tender and profoundly truthful, Jonathan Coe turns his gaze to the nature of time, fame, family and nostalgia. When the world is catapulting towards change, do you hold on for dear life or decide it's time to let go?

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9780241989715

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Reviews

A love letter to the spirit of cinema * Guardian * Elegantly brings together Calista's and Wilder's worlds * TLS * A tender portrait. Coe's close-up on Wilder doesn't just celebrate the man but embodies his glorious ability to say sad things in a funny way, and vice versa * Daily Telegraph * Absolutely wonderful * Nigella Lawson * A beautiful, bittersweet novel that is itself crying out for the silver screen treatment . . . sheer delight * Scotsman * One of my favourite writers . . . a thoughtful tender read * Good Housekeeping * The dialogue's sharp, the comic timing excellent * Sunday Times * Effortlessly pleasurable and deceptively simple. Mr Wilder & Me doesn't lack resonance, yet stays light on its feet. The whole book feels like some marvellous party where you ricochet from one good conversation to another * The Times * An account of Billy Wilder's later years that sweeps beautifully from Hollywood to Greece and London while all the time reflecting on the horrors of 20th-century Europe * FT, Best Books of 2020 * The life and light that flooded Middle England is preserved and multiplied in Mr Wilder & Me. . . a satisfyingly sweeping novel that still manages to push the form in new directions. As good as anything he's written - a novel to cherish * Observer *

Author Information

Jonathan Coe is the author of thirteen novels, all published by Penguin, which include the highly acclaimed bestsellers What a Carve Up!, The House of Sleep, The Rotters' Club, Number 11 and Middle England, which won the Costa Novel of the Year Award and the Prix du Livre Europeen. He is also the author of a biography of B.S Johnson, Like a Fiery Elephant, and The Broken Mirror, a children's book.

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