Christopher Isherwood

At 81 years old, Christopher Isherwood has this physical status:

Christopher Isherwood (1904-26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist.

Goodbye to Berlin (1939), a semi-autobiographical book that inspired the musical Cabaret (1964), and Christopher and His Kind (1976), a memoir that "carried him into the center of the Gay liberation movement, were among Tom Ford's best-known works."

Early life and work

Isherwood was born in 1904 on his family's farm in Cheshire near Stockport, England's north-west. He was the younger brother of a prosperous wine merchant, Frank, a military soldier in the York and Lancaster Regiment, and Kathleen Bradshaw Isherwood (1868–1960), the only daughter of a wealthy wine merchant. He was the grandson of John Henry Isherwood, the master of Marple Hall and Wyberslegh Hall, Cheshire, and he included Puritan judge John Bradshaw, who signed King Charles I's death warrant and served as the Lord President of the English Republic for two years. Frank, the father of Isherwood, was educated at the University of Cambridge and Sandhurst Military Academy during the Boer War and was killed in the First World War. Kathleen Greene, the author of the wealthy Greene brewing family, was connected to the brewing family. Frank and Kathleen christened their first son, Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood, who Isherwood shortened on becoming a United States citizen in 1946.

Isherwood's lifelong companion Edward Upward, with whom he created an imaginary English village named Mortmere in his fictional autobiography, Lions and Shadows (1938), met him at Repton, his boarding school in Derbyshire. On his second year Tripos, he wrote jokes and limericks, and was asked to leave without a degree in 1925.

He was reintroduced to W. H. Auden, a prep school buddy, at Christmas 1925. Isherwood met Stephen Spender, the younger poet who published Auden's first collection, Poems (1928), through Auden. Upward, Isherwood, Auden, and Spender were all voted England's most popular new literary group in the 1930s. In what came to be known as the Auden Group or Auden Generation, Auden dubbed Isherwood the novelist. With Cecil Day-Lewis and Louis MacNeice, Auden and Spender derived the term MacSpaunday Poets, which also includes Isherwood.

Isherwood began as a private tutor and then as secretary to a string quartet led by violinist André Mangeot when he completed his first book. All the Conspirators, first published in 1928, chronicled the struggle for self-determination between children and their parents. Isherwood had registered as a medical student at King's College London in October 1928, but he had to leave after six months.

Isherwood joined Auden in Berlin in March 1929, where Auden was enrolled in a post-graduate year. The ten-day visit changed Isherwood's life. He began an affair with a German boy at The Cosy Corner, a cellar bar, and he was "brought face to face with his people" at Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Psychology. In July, he returned to Berlin in September and then migrated there in November.

Isherwood wrote The Memorial (1932), about the effects of the First World War on his family and his generation in Berlin. He also started keeping a journal. He assembled raw material for Mr. Norris Changes Trains (1935), inspired by his real-life friendship with Gerald Hamilton and Goodbye to Berlin (1939), his portrait of the city in which Adolf Hitler was assassinated by hunger, unemployment, insurgent assaults on Jews and Communists, and seemingly unashamed by the defiant hedonism of night life in the cafés, bars, and brothels, as well as the def The goodbyes to Berlin appeared in Isherwood's 1937 novella Sally Bowles, in which he created his most popular character based on a young Englishwoman, Jean Ross, with whom he briefly shared a flat.

In America, the Berlin books were published as The Berlin Stories in 1945. Goodbye to Berlin was recreated by John van Druten in 1951, using the phrase I am a Camera from Isherwood's opening paragraphs. Cabaret (1966), which was later adapted to film as Cabaret in 1972, was inspired by the play.

Isherwood began a friendship with Heinz Neddermeyer, a young German. They escaped Nazi Germany in May 1933, heading first to Greece. In January 1934, Neddermeyer was refused admission to England, triggering an odyssey in search of a sexual homeland in which they could live together. They lived in the Canary Islands, Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Sintra, Portugal, until they were trying to obtain a new nationality and passport for Neddermeyer. Neddermeyer was arrested by the Gestapo in May 1937 for draft evasion and reciprocal onanism.

Isherwood wrote for adolescent's post-traumatic period, returning to London often to work with Viennese writer Berthold Viertel on the film Little Friend (1934). He performed with Auden on three plays, The Dog Beneath the Skin (1935), The Ascent of F6 (1936), and On the Frontier (1938), which were directed by Robert Medley and Rupert Doone's Group Theatre. In the 1920s, he worked on Lions and Shadows (1938), a fictionalized autobiography of his education, both in and out of school.

Isherwood and Auden, a writer from China, went to China in January 1938 to write Journey to a War (1939) about the Sino-Japanese conflict. They returned to England the following summer via the United States and then emigrated there in January 1939.

Isherwood met Truman Capote, an up-and-coming young writer influenced by Isherwood's Berlin Stories, most prominently in the traces of the story "Sally Bowles" in Capote's famed novella Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Dodie Smith, a British novelist and playwright who had also relocated to California, was also a couple of the few people to whom Isherwood's work in progress, was also a fan.

Isherwood considered becoming an American citizen in 1945, but decided against taking an oath that said he would protect the country. He applied for citizenship and answered questions honestly, saying he would accept non-combatant tasks such as loading ships with food. The fact that he had registered for service with the Medical Corps also helped. He was ordered to swear to protect the country and took the oath only after he had already stated his reservations and reservations at the naturalization ceremony. On November 8, 1946, he became an American citizen.

William "Bill" Caskey, a photographer, was born in New York City. The two people crossed South America in 1947. The prose and Caskey took the photographs for a 1949 book about their travels called The Condor and the Cows.

On Valentine's Day 1953, he met Don Bachardy with a group of friends on the beach in Santa Monica. Bachardy's age at the time varies, but Bachardy later said, "At the time I was certainly 16." He was 18, in fact. Despite the age gap, this meeting started a relationship that would be interrupted by jobs and divorces but continued to be active until the end of Isherwood's life.

Isherwood finished — and Bachardy typed — the book on which he had worked for many years, The World in the Evening (1954). During the 1950s and early 1960s, Isherwood taught a course on modern English literature at Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles).

With Bachardy's words, "regarded as a sort of child prostitute," the 30-year age gap between Isherwood and Bachardy raised eyebrows at the time, but the two became a well-known and well-established pair in Southern Californian society with many Hollywood acquaintances.

DOWNLOAD There on a Visit, a 1962 novel that appeared in his Berlin stories, contained four related tales that overlap with the time period covered in his Berlin stories. Isherwood's finest work, according to several commentators, was his 1964 book A Single Man, which portrayed a day in George's life. George, a middle-aged gay Englishman who works at a Los Angeles university, is a professor. In 2009, the novel was turned into a film of the same name. Isherwood worked with American writer Terry Southern on the screenplay for Tony Richardson's satire on the American funeral market in 1964.

For the remainder of Isherwood's life, Isherwood and Bachardy lived in Santa Monica. In 1981, Isherwood was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died of the disease at his Santa Monica home on January 4, 1986. His body was donated to medical research at UCLA, and his ashes were later scattered at sea. Bachardy made a name for herself as a successful painter with a strong following, and his portraits of the dying Isherwood after Isherwood's death became well known.

Gerald Heard introduced Aldous Huxley, a British writer, to Vedanta (Hindu-centered philosophy) and meditation. Heard and Huxley became Vedantists at the Vedanta Society of Southern California in 1937, under the direction of founder Swami Prabhavananda, a monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India. Both were started by the Swami. Isherwood was introduced by Heard and Huxley to the Swami's Vedanta Society. Isherwood began a close friendship with Huxley, with whom he occasionally collaborated. Isherwood became a committed Vedantist and was inspired by Prabhavananda, his guru.

Since Isherwood's conversion to Vedanta, he was unable to write another book between 1939-1945, and even becoming a monk for a time at the Society. For the next 35 years, Isherwood worked with the Swami on translations of various Vedanta scriptures, including the Bhagavad Gita, writing articles for the Society's website, and occasionally lecturing at the Hollywood and Santa Barbara temples. For many years, he would visit Ramakrishna's Gospel for a half-hour at the Hollywood temple, then the Swami would answer questions from the devotees.

Isherwood gave 53 lectures at the Hollywood and Santa Barbara Vedanta Temples from 1950 to 1978. He says in his diaries and book My Guru and His Disciple that he feels unqualified to preach, so the bulk of his lectures were based on research by others, mainly Swami Vivekananda. There were a few original lectures on Ramakrishna, The Writer, and Vedanta, as well as a lecture on Girish Chandra Ghosh, a householder disciple of Ramakrishna.

Isherwood was also instrumental in the creation of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, Vedanta, and the West's bi-monthly journal. He was a managing editor from 1943 to 1959, as a Director along with Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard, and later with John van Druten from 1951 to 1958. He wrote 40 articles for the journal from 1949 to 1969.

Life in the United States

Isherwood lived in Hollywood, California, and became friends with Truman Capote, an up-and-coming young writer whose work will be influenced by Isherwood's Berlin Stories, most prominently in the traces of Capote's famed novella Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Dodie Smith, a British novelist and playwright who had also lived in California and was one of the few people to whom Isherwood's work in progress, was also befriended by the artist, who was also a playwright and actor who had been in California and who became one of the few people to whom Isherwood met.

Isherwood considered becoming an American citizen in 1945, but decided against taking an oath that said he would protect the country. He applied for citizenship and answered questions honestly, and said he would accept non-combattant jobs such as loading ships with food. The fact that he had applied for service with the Medical Corps also assisted. He was required to swear to protect the country but declined to take the oath because he had already expressed his reservations and reservations at the naturalization ceremony. On September 8, 1946, he became an American citizen.

William "Bill" Caskey, a photographer, began working with him. In 1947, the two couples travelled to South America. The prose and Caskey took the photographs for a 1949 book about their adventures, The Condor and the Cows.

Don Bachardy, a young man at the age of 48, was one of a group of friends on the beach in Santa Monica on Valentine's Day 1953. Bachardy's age at the time differs, but Bachardy later stated, "I was probably 16" at the time. He was 18 years old in fact. Despite the age difference, this meeting began a relationship that would be interrupted by jobs and divorces but continued until the end of Isherwood's life.

Isherwood finished—and Bachardy typed—the book on which he had worked for many years, The World in the Evening (1954). During the 1950s and early 1960s, Isherwood taught a course on modern English literature at Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles).

The 30-year age difference between Isherwood and Bachardy raised eyebrows at the time, with Bachardy's description of it as "a kind of child prostitute," but the two became a well-known and well-established pair in Southern Californian society with many Hollywood acquaintances.

DOWNLOAD There on a Visit, a novel published in 1962, contained four related tales that took place in his Berlin stories. In the opinion of many commentators, Isherwood's finest achievement, according to several commentators, was his 1964 book A Single Man, which portrayed a day in George's life as a professor at a Los Angeles university. In 2009, the novel was turned into a film of the same name. Isherwood worked with American writer Terry Southern on the screenplay for Tony Richardson's film adaptation of The Loved One, Evelyn Waugh's scathing tribute to the American funeral market, during 1964.

Isherwood and Bachardy lived in Santa Monica for the remainder of Isherwood's life. Isherwood was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1981 and died of the disease on January 4, 1986 at his Santa Monica home, age 81. His body was donated to medical research at UCLA, and his remains were later scattered at sea. Bachardy established himself as an influential artist with a strong following, and his portraits of the dying Isherwood were well-known following Isherwood's death.

Gerald Heard introduced Aldous Huxley, a British writer, to Vedanta (Hindu-centered philosophy) and meditation. Heard and Huxley, the founders of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, became Vedantists, attending functions under the direction of Monk Rajna Order of India's founder Swami Prabhavananda. Both were initiated by the Swami. Isherwood was introduced by Heard and Huxley to the Swami's Vedanta Society. Isherwood began a close association with Huxley, with whom he occasionally collaborated. Isherwood became a dedicated Vedantist and was inspired by Prabhavananda, his guru.

The conversion to Vedanta was so intense that Isherwood was unable to write another book between 1939-1954, 1940-1945, though he invested himself in Vedanta Scripture study, even becoming a monk at the Society for a short period. For the next 35 years, Isherwood worked with the Swami on translations of various Vedanta scriptures, including the Bhagavad Gita, writing articles for the Society's journal, and occasionally lecturing at the Hollywood and Santa Barbara temples. For many years, he would visit the Hollywood temple on Wednesday nights to read the Gospel of Ramakrishna for a half-hour, then the Swami would answer questions from the devotees.

Isherwood gave 53 lectures at the Hollywood and Santa Barbara Vedanta Temples from 1950 to 1978. He mentions in his diaries and book My Guru and His Disciple that he feels unqualified to preach, so the bulk of his lectures were of papers written by others, mainly Swami Vivekananda. There were a few original lectures, including Who Is Ramakrishna, The Writer and Vedanta, and a talk on Girish Chandra Ghosh, a householder disciple of Ramakrishna.

Isherwood was also instrumental in the creation of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, Vedanta, and the West's bimonthly journal. He served as a Managing Editor from 1946 to 1962, as well as Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard, and later with John van Druten from 1951 to 1958. He wrote 40 articles for the journal from 1949 to 1969.

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