Author:John Gay,Bryan Loughrey,T.O. Treadwell,Bryan Loughrey
The tale of Peachum, thief-taker and informer, conspiring to send the dashing and promiscuous highwayman Macheath to the gallows, became the theatrical sensation of the eighteenth century.
In THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, John Gay turned conventions of Italian opera riotously upside-down, instead using traditional popular ballads and street tunes, while also indulging in political satire at the expense of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Gay's highly original depiction of the thieves, informers, prostitutes and highwaymen thronging the slums and prisons of the corrupt London underworld proved brilliantly successful in exposing the dark side of a corrupt and jaded society.
An impressive debut
—— IndependentIf aching and beautiful stories can still change lives, even for a little while, then this one surely will
—— Robert Olmstead, author of River DogsBeautifully written... Kingsbury's ability to create the passion and desperation of first love makes you want to do it all over again
—— Big IssueKingsbury's debut novel summons the ghosts of Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams and Harper Lee... as timeless in its evocation of racial, sexual and family tensions as it is in reflecting the coming-of-age realisations of its lead characters
—— ScotsmanAn intriguing and worthwhile success
—— Times Literary SupplementColin Thubron seems to be a writer undaunted by immensity, either of place or plot... To the Last City is haunting and passionate and, above all, magnificently fearless
—— Observer