The Blaze of Obscurity

For many people, Clive James will always be a TV presenter first and foremost, and a writer second – this despite the fact that his adventures with the written word took place before, during and after his time on the small screen. Nevertheless, for those who remember clips of Japanese endurance gameshows and Egyptian soap operas, Clive James reinventing the news or interviewing Hefner and Hepburn, Polanski and Pavarotti, his Postcards from Kenya, Shanghai and Dallas, or Clive James Racing Driver, his rightful place does seem to be right there – on the box, in our homes, and almost one of the family.

However you think of him, though, and whatever you remember him for, The Blaze of Obscurity is perhaps his most brilliant book yet. Part Clive James on TV and part Clive James on TV, it tells the inside story of his years in television, shows Clive James on top form both then and now, and proves – once and for all – that he has a way with words... whatever the medium.