Lost for Words

Edward St. Aubyn’s five-volume series of semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels are one of the most acclaimed fiction cycles in English literature. Michael Silverblatt talks with St. Aubyn about his first novel since completing his series, hailed for its satirizing of the English aristocracy. In Lost for Words, St. Aubyn employs his lethal dose of humor in a send-up of England’s premier literary prize and its controversial, eco-disastrous sponsor. St. Aubyn’s acid pen skewers the competing authors as well as the judges and corporate, political and media interests that influence such prizes.