Time Bites: Views and Reviews

By Doris Lessing

Assembled here for the first time in book form are the very best occasional writings from the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

A selection of the very best of Doris Lessing's essays: articles on writers as diverse as Jane Austen, Muriel Spark, Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence and Mikael Bulgakov sit alongside autobiographical looks at the beliefs that have shaped Lessing’s thinking. There are adoring and adorable pieces on the beloved cats that she has allowed to share her life, and insightful looks at the Africa in which she grew up, and London and England, the place where she made her home.

The range of subjects, cultures and periods within these essays is huge, but the collection is utterly consistent in one key regard: Doris Lessing’s clear-eyed vision and clearly expressed prose are present throughout. There is a huge amount of wisdom and entertainment in these pages, shot through with Lessing’s infectiously forthright, zestful and impish spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Feb 5, 2009
• ISBN: 9780007290093

Doris Lessing

Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature, Doris Lessing was one of the most celebrated and distinguished writers of our time, the recipient of a host of international awards. She wrote more than thirty books—among them the novels Martha Quest, The Golden Notebook, and The Fifth Child. She died in 2013.

Reviews for Time Bites

[bahzah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This reading experience was like having a huge tray of yummy appetizers delivered to me between two covers. Lessing reviews a wide variety of books with much intelligence and wit - from Jane Austen to the Sufi teacher, Idries Shah. Her views on chosen topics are delicious. What a great introduction to a new-to-me British author. If I had marked every quote I loved in this book with a sticky flag, it would now look like a porcupine. No doubt I will revisit many sections of this book.

[9cee9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This reading experience was like having a huge tray of yummy appetizers delivered to me between two covers. Lessing reviews a wide variety of books with much intelligence and wit - from Jane Austen to the Sufi teacher, Idries Shah. Her views on chosen topics are delicious. What a great introduction to a new-to-me British author. If I had marked every quote I loved in this book with a sticky flag, it would now look like a porcupine. No doubt I will revisit many sections of this book.

[anitadtaylor · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Worth the price for the Jane Austen essay if nothing else. Brilliant.