'Just . . . moving at different speeds'

 

“Fiction is life with the dull bits left out.” – Clive James

Born in Australia on this date in 1939, James was an author, critic, broadcaster, poet and humorist who broke into the writing world in the 1970s as a television critic for The Observer magazine.  He gained a wide reading audience with his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, first published in 1980, and his acclaimed sketches of famous 20th century figures, Cultural Amnesia.

James, who died in November of 2019, also had four novels and several books of poetry published, including The Book of My Enemy (2003), a volume that takes its title from his earlier humorous poem "The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered” (a term in bookselling where books are relegated to the "last gasp" discount bin).

 

Humor, James said, is an essential part of every writer’s arsenal.   

 

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds.  A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”