“Futilitarian” best describes the type of desultory, pleasure-seeking intellectual Huxley pinned so mercilessly to the literary map in Antic Hay. Wickedly funny and deliciously barbed, the novel epitomizes the glittering neuroticism of post-First World War London.
An Oxford professor reacting against the turgid pedagoy of his times is possessed of the vital instinct for celebration. Huxley takes this character through a succession of startling adventures that are the last word in freedom and self expression.
Reviews
New Statesman
This new intensity of emotion gives a new savour to the wit which is, after all, what we read Mr. Huxley for.
Publishers Weekly
- Publisher's Weekly
Long out of print, this minor modernist classic satirizes Huxley's illustrious circle in the years after World War I. Apr.
Library Journal
Although Blackstone is to be commended for rediscovering many older literary classics, these two early Huxley novels might better have been left to rest in peace. Crome Yellow (1921) depicts an aristocratic cast of eccentrics in a British country house who do nothing but talk...and talk.... Antic Way (1923) shifts to a similar group of Bohemians in London who spend hours in elegant restaurants discussing art and philosophy. With so much conversation and so little action, reading these books aloud is unquestionably the best way to dramatize Huxley's brilliant dialog. Robert Whitfield does it full justice and proves that he is now one of the best narrators in the business. Recommended only for Huxley fans.--Jo Carr, Sarasota, FL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.