Reviews"The finest historical novel ever written by an American." -- The Washington Post "[In Augustus ] John Williams re-creates the Roman Empire from the death of Julius Caesar to the last days of Augustus, the machinations of the court, the Senate, and the people, from the sickly boy to the sickly man who almost dies during expeditions to what would seem to be the ruthless ruler. He uses an epistolary format, and in the end all these voices, like a collage, meld together around the main character . . . Read it in conjunction with Robert Graves's more flamboyant I, Claudius and Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian ." --Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation "A novel of extraordinary range, yet of extraordinary minuteness, that manages never to sacrifice one quality for the other." -- Financial Times "Williams has fashioned an always engaging, psychologically convincing work of fiction--a consistent and well-realized portrait." --Thomas Lask, The New York Times "Readers of both Stoner and Butcher's Crossing will here encounter an altogether new version of the John Williams they've come to know: Augustus is an epistolary novel set in classical Rome. It's a rare genius who can reinvent himself in his final work and earn high praise for doing so." -- The Millions " Augustus is gripping, brimming with life." --Dan Piepenbring, The Paris Review Daily , " Augustus is a masterpiece." - Los Angeles Times "One is drawn deeply into a world whose complexity, luxury, political cynicism, public gullibility, and violence seem very much like our own." - The New Yorker "Williams has immersed himself in ancient history, its figures, its conflicts, its complicated intrigues and its often primitive turmoil. In his vivid panorama, The Golden Age sparkles with an eloquence, at times, approaching the poetic." - The Plain Dealer "Out of the events surrounding one of the pivotal moments in Western history . . . John Williams has fashioned an always engaging, psychologically convincing work of fiction." - The New York Times " Augustus is a vividly imagined re-creation of classical Rome, but its intuitive grasp of the experience of immense power makes it an unusual, and superior, novel." - The Boston Globe "Novel or history, this is an excellent book. . . . a superior work of the imagination." - Playboy "It would be easy to over-praise this novel; but there does not seem any adequate reason why this temptation should be resisted, especially as Mr. Williams in his turn resists the obvious one of allowing irony too prominent a part in the proceedings." - The Economist "A pleasure to read. . . . A most polished performance." - Boston Herald Traveler "Strong and striking. . . . Intelligent and intuitive, this excellent historical novel makes the world of Ancient Rome a place in which we feel instantly at home." - Publishers Weekly "A novel of extraordinary range, yet of extraordinary minuteness, that manages never to sacrifice one quality for the other." - The Financial Times, "The finest historical novel ever written by an American." -- The Washington Post "[In Augustus ] John Williams re-creates the Roman Empire from the death of Julius Caesar to the last days of Augustus, the machinations of the court, the Senate, and the people, from the sickly boy to the sickly man who almost dies during expeditions to what would seem to be the ruthless ruler. He uses an epistolary format, and in the end all these voices, like a collage, meld together around the main character . . . Read it in conjunction with Robert Graves's more flamboyant I, Claudius and Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian ." --Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation "A novel of extraordinary range, yet of extraordinary minuteness, that manages never to sacrifice one quality for the other." -- Financial Times "Williams has fashioned an always engaging, psychologically convincing work of fiction--a consistent and well-realized portrait." --Thomas Lask, The New York Times "Readers of both Stoner and Butcher's Crossing will here encounter an altogether new version of the John Williams they've come to know: Augustus is an epistolary novel set in classical Rome. It's a rare genius who can reinvent himself in his final work and earn high praise for doing so." -- The Millions " Augustus is gripping, brimming with life." --Dan Piepenbring, The Paris Review Daily "This novel of an aged emperor will be intensely illuminating to anyone who is ready to put modern morality aside for a moment in order to acquire a little knowledge of himself or herself ... The genius of this astonishing American writer is that he shows how lives that seem utterly strange can be very like our own." --John Gray, New Statesman , "The finest historical novel ever written by an American." -- The Washington Post "[In Augustus ] John Williams re-creates the Roman Empire from the death of Julius Caesar to the last days of Augustus, the machinations of the court, the Senate, and the people, from the sickly boy to the sickly man who almost dies during expeditions to what would seem to be the ruthless ruler. He uses an epistolary format, and in the end all these voices, like a collage, meld together around the main character . . . Read it in conjunction with Robert Graves's more flamboyant I, Claudius and Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian ." --Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation "A novel of extraordinary range, yet of extraordinary minuteness, that manages never to sacrifice one quality for the other." -- Financial Times "Williams has fashioned an always engaging, psychologically convincing work of fiction--a consistent and well-realized portrait." --Thomas Lask, The New York Times "Readers of both Stoner and Butcher's Crossing will here encounter an altogether new version of the John Williams they've come to know: Augustus is an epistolary novel set in classical Rome. It's a rare genius who can reinvent himself in his final work and earn high praise for doing so." -- The Millions, "The finest historical novel ever written by an American." -- The Washington Post "[In Augustus ] John Williams re-creates the Roman Empire from the death of Julius Caesar to the last days of Augustus, the machinations of the court, the Senate, and the people, from the sickly boy to the sickly man who almost dies during expeditions to what would seem to be the ruthless ruler. He uses an epistolary format, and in the end all these voices, like a collage, meld together around the main character . . . Read it in conjunction with Robert Graves's more flamboyant I, Claudius and Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian ." --Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation "A novel of extraordinary range, yet of extraordinary minuteness, that manages never to sacrifice one quality for the other." -- Financial Times "Williams has fashioned an always engaging, psychologically convincing work of fiction--a consistent and well-realized portrait." --Thomas Lask, The New York Times
Dewey Edition23