DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, by Diana AthillTwenty-three years ago, Diana Athill wrote “Stet,” a memoir of her life as an editor in which she outlined the pleasures of her profession.
And she did a good bit of gift-wrapping herself: In her long life Athill published no fewer than 10 memoirs, two collections of short stories and, in 1967, “Don’t Look at Me Like That,” her only novel.
By the time of its writing, she already had her first autobiography, “Instead of a Letter,” under her belt.
Although the novel is set primarily in the 1950s — its protagonist, Meg Bailey, is some years younger than her creator — Athill and her heroine share a similar social status (both had titled grandfathers) and an artistic London milieu.
“They buttoned over the chest, had an obscene vent between the legs and were very warm.”
Persons:
Diana Athill, “ Stet, ”, Athill, André, Simone de Beauvoir, V.S, Naipaul, Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, Margaret Atwood, Meg Bailey, — Athill, Helen Oyeyemi, Meg
Organizations:
André Deutsch Ltd
Locations:
London