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Jew Made in England

Anthony Blond

Jew Made in England - Anthony Blond

Jew Made in England is a Rake’s Progress by one of the great eccentrics and, without doubt, one of the most innovative and idiosyncratic publishers of the twentieth century. Charismatic, daring and outrageous, Anthony Blond harvested talents as diverse as Harold Robbins and Jean Genet, Spike Milligan and Graham Greene.

An inveterate promoter of the young, he gave over seventy writers their first chance, not all of whom possessed the precocity of Tom Stoppard, the durability of Simon Raven or the acumen of Burgo Partridge (‘Do you want a life of Diana Dors or a history of orgies?’). Although Blond’s various publishing enterprises all came to assorted grief, he left behind a legacy of brilliance which few others will ever match.

Funny, erudite, sharp and slyly self-deprecating, Jew Made in England is a delightful celebration of a free spirit which no social, sexual, racial, religious or geographical boundary has been able to contain. Anthony Blond was born in 1928. In 1952 he left the family firm, which made underwear for Marks & Spencer, to start his own literary agency.

He subsequently created three publishing businesses, guaranteed Private Eye’s overdraft, initiated a literary agency in Japan and a radio station in Manchester, and stood for Parliament. He is the author of two books on publishing, and a novel, Family Business. Having owned houses in places as far flung as Sri Lanka, Corfu, New York and Islington, he now lives in France with his second wife and second son.

Reviews

‘It was only to be expected that Anthony Blond, the maverick publisher, who delighted in provoking the literary world for 40 years, would write a provocative autobiography. It is prickly, chaotic, rude; it is also wickedly amusing, occasionally touching and unusually well-written ... Blond has written a genial, entertaining book’	Anne Chisholm Sunday Telegraph
‘Blond is a witty and elegant writer … his stories are of the kind that might set the table at a roar during a bibulous dinner. He is a likeable and lively companion’	Jeremy Lewis Sunday Times
‘This is a skilfully constructed book. Reading his autobiography is akin to sitting over a vodka ‘or three’ with a beguiling companion, whose gifts as a story teller keep one spell-bound until the last fruity, mischievous page’	James Knox Country Life
‘It is hard not to relish a book which contains so many disobliging stories’	Peter Parker Evening Standard
‘Jew Made in England is a confection of a work, but there is an odd, zestful ruthlessness about the way in which Blond confronts and chops away at the persona he has created for himself … I ended up charmed by its honesty’	D. J. Taylor Spectator
‘Like Raven’s novels and Clark’s diaries, a pleasure that you don’t always like yourself for enjoying’	The Bookseller
‘Unlike most publishers Blond can not only write but write well’	Michael Barber The Oldie
‘Richly entertaining … delightfully unstuffy . . . Blond dishes up plenty of juicy gossip’	Hugh Massingberd Mail on Sunday

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Jew Made in England