Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography Of Joe Orton [Paperback]

Told with precision and extensive detail,Prick Up Your Earsis the engrossing biography of playwright and novelist Joe Orton. Orton’s public career spanned only three years (1964–1967), but his work made a lasting mark on the international stage. FromEntertaining Mr. Sloaneto his career-makingLoot,Orton’s plays often shocked, sometimes outraged, and always captivated audiences with their dark yet farcical cynicism. A rising star and undeniable talent, Orton left much undone when he was bludgeoned to death by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell, who had educated Orton and also dreamed of becoming a famous writer.

 

Prick Up Your Earswas the basis for the distinguished 1987 film of the same name, directed by Stephen Frears, with a screenplay by Alan Bennett, and starring Gary Oldman and Vanessa Redgrave. A brilliant, page-turning examination of the dueling forces behind Orton’s work,Prick Up Your Earssecured the playwright’s reputation as a great twentieth-century artist.

John Lahr (b. 1941) is an acclaimed author. He was the senior drama critic at theNew Yorkerfor twenty years. He has twice received the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism and was the first critic to win a Tony Award, for co-authoringElaine Stritch at Liberty.The author of eighteen books, ranging from fiction to biography, Lahr is best known forNotes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr(1969) andPrick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton(1978), which was made into a film. He lives in London.