Synopses & Reviews
Review
"This book claims, tongue in cheek, to be a miraculously surviving copy of Byron's actual memoirs, burned by his executors according to history. It succeeds in creating a Byron worthy of the reputation as a notorious rake and libertine, with a passionate crescendo of sexual dalliances and discoveries, and an emphasis on homosexual attachments as well as incest. One could complain of the comparative lack of attention to the poetry—and the constant
obsession with sex—but Byron's lameness, his weight problem, his lifelong financial troubles, his travels through Europe, and his friendships with Scott and Shelley are there too. The footnotes show a good deal of research, and the energy and inventiveness which the author has devoted to this romantic figure are admirable, if his descriptions are a bit too graphic to be believable in terms of the early 19th century. A clever and entertaining book, on the whole." Reviewed by Robert Jackson, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)