Reviews
From the foreword: "Phil Baker has established himself as among the very best contemporary biographers... What Baker has accomplished here is little short of marvellous."--Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell "[written with] zest and insight .... Ever determined to break down the barriers between reality and fantasy, Spare has finally achieved it--not by elaborate psychic exercises, but through biography."-- The Times Literary Supplement "Baker is a wonderful writer, careful, intelligent, and dry. He also knows his London, and the Spare that emerges in his portrayal is very much an avatar of that unique and ancient town."--Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis and Nomad Codes, From the foreword: "Phil Baker has established himself as among the very best contemporary biographers... What Baker has accomplished here is little short of marvellous."--Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell "[written with] zest and insight .... Ever determined to break down the barriers between reality and fantasy, Spare has finally achieved it--not by elaborate psychic exercises, but through biography."-- The Times Literary Supplement "Baker has a fine store of anecdotes... What emerges is a portrait of a marginal figure forever ahead of the curve: [Spare]'s cited as the precursor of surrealism, pop art and even psychoanalysis."-- The Guardian "Baker is a wonderful writer, careful, intelligent, and dry. He also knows his London, and the Spare that emerges in his portrayal is very much an avatar of that unique and ancient town."--Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis and Nomad Codes, From the foreword: "Phil Baker has established himself as among the very best contemporary biographers... What Baker has accomplished here is little short of marvellous." --Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell "[written with] zest and insight .... Ever determined to break down the barriers between reality and fantasy, Spare has finally achieved it--not by elaborate psychic exercises, but through biography." --The Times Literary Supplement "Baker has a fine store of anecdotes... What emerges is a portrait of a marginal figure forever ahead of the curve: [Spare]'s cited as the precursor of surrealism, pop art and even psychoanalysis." --The Guardian "Baker is a wonderful writer, careful, intelligent, and dry. He also knows his London, and the Spare that emerges in his portrayal is very much an avatar of that unique and ancient town." --Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis and Nomad Codes "The time is over-ripe for a proper biography of this curious figure, and it is a pleasure to report that Phil Baker's study is a first-rate performance, scrupulously researched, judicious, and refreshingly sane .... By the end of this admirable book, Spare comes to seem a strangely attractive figure: talented, stoical, randy, cantankerous, gentle, and a magnificent English eccentric." --The Literary Review "I cannot recommend Austin Osman Spare too highly. Phil Baker has done a wonderful job of bringing the complexities and contradictions of Spare's life to the fore, and in making the London of Spare's time come to life vividly and richly." --Phil Hine, author of Condensed Chaos, From the foreword: "Phil Baker has established himself as among the very best contemporary biographers... What Baker has accomplished here is little short of marvellous." --Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell "[written with] zest and insight .... Ever determined to break down the barriers between reality and fantasy, Spare has finally achieved it--not by elaborate psychic exercises, but through biography." --The Times Literary Supplement "Baker has a fine store of anecdotes... What emerges is a portrait of a marginal figure forever ahead of the curve: [Spare]'s cited as the precursor of surrealism, pop art and even psychoanalysis." --The Guardian "Baker is a wonderful writer, careful, intelligent, and dry. He also knows his London, and the Spare that emerges in his portrayal is very much an avatar of that unique and ancient town." --Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis and Nomad Codes "The time is over-ripe for a proper biography of this curious figure, and it is a pleasure to report that Phil Baker's study is a first-rate performance, scrupulously researched, judicious, and refreshingly sane .... By the end of this admirable book, Spare comes to seem a strangely attractive figure: talented, stoical, randy, cantankerous, gentle, and a magnificent English eccentric." --The Literary Review "I cannot recommend Austin Osman Spare too highly. Phil Baker has done a wonderful job of bringing the complexities and contradictions of Spare's life to the fore, and in making the London of Spare's time come to life vividly and richly." --Phil Hine, author of Condensed Chaos
