The author of only four novels so far, Alan Hollinghurst nevertheless ranks as one of Britain's premier writers of fiction. He owes this status to a combination of stylistic qualities and thematic interests as well as to the socio-cultural context within which his work has emerged. Hollinghurst's mastery of style – a mixture of lyricism, wit and pitch-perfect dialogue – is undisputed and many fellow writers have expressed great admiration for it. His thematic interests, by contrast, have been more contested. Although his novels present us with richly developed portraits of the ways in which sexuality, class, race, art and history enter into complex interrelationships, and although they excel at psychological depth and social satire, they do so while focussing almost exclusively on the…
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Citation: Eeckhout, Bart. "Alan Hollinghurst". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 November 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2180, accessed 08 December 2024.]