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Alan Taylor's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Alan Taylor recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Alan Taylor's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1
It is no surprise that one of Muriel Spark’s most lively and entertaining works would be her own memoir, Curriculum Vitae. Born to a Scottish Jewish father and an English Presbyterian mother, Spark describes her childhood in 1930s Edinburgh in brief, dazzling anecdotes. In one she recalls a cherished schoolteacher, Christina Kay, who would later be used as the prototype for Miss Jean Brodie. Spark boldly details her disastrous first marriage to Sydney Oswald Spark (S.O.S.) — himself thirty-two, she just nineteen — whom she followed to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and left behind to return... more
Recommended by Alan Taylor, and 1 others.

Alan TaylorI love Curriculum Vitae, and think it’s much more pungent than many critics thought it was. It’s laced with wonderful stuff. (Source)

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2

The Abbess of Crewe

It is time to elect a new abbess at the Convent of Crewe. There are two contenders: nuns Alexandra and Felicity. Alexandra is busy bugging the convent while Felicity calls the police when her love letters (to a young Jesuit priest) are stolen. less
Recommended by Alan Taylor, and 1 others.

Alan TaylorSet in a convent where things have gone completely awry. The only nun who can sort out the mess is touring the world: that nun is modelled on Henry Kissinger. (Source)

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3

Symposium

Described by Time Magazine as `a lethal comedy', Symposium centres around a dinner party and the lives of the five couples in attendance, including a burglary ring, a convent of Marxist nuns and several unexplained deaths. A devilish tale.

This is one of the 22 novels written by Muriel Spark in her lifetime. All are being published by Polygon in hardback Centenary Editions between November 2017 and September 2018.
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Recommended by Alan Taylor, and 1 others.

Alan TaylorA book where actions and words, the things people do and say, have consequences. It’s got a lovely feel to it, wonderful phrases and sayings. (Source)

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4

The Girls of Slender Means

London, 1945. The girls of slender means are the residents of the May of Teck Club, a genteel yet rather shabby boarding house established for the 'social protection of ladies of slender means below the age of thirty years'. The novel concerns their everyday affairs over a period of a few weeks before a shocking event transforms their lives. less
Recommended by Alan Taylor, and 1 others.

Alan TaylorA sequel of sorts to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It’s set in a closed world. You can manipulate a group of people within a closed world. (Source)

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5

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Edinburgh, 1930, and the world is on the brink of change. Leading the charge is the glamorous, free-spirited Miss Jean Brodie, schoolteacher at the Marcia Blaine Academy, whose guiding principle is 'Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she'll be mine for life. I am dedicated to you in my prime.' While Miss Brodie manipulates and charms 'her girls' - known as the Brodie Set - with notions of romance and heroism, tragedy and a cruel betrayal beckon. less
Recommended by Alan Taylor, and 1 others.

Alan TaylorIt’s a fascinating book, beautifully written and, as a slim novel, you can go back to it every year and always find something new in it. (Source)

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