 First edition cover | |
| Author | Anthony Powell |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | James Broom-Lynne |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Dance to the Music of Time |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Preceded by | Books Do Furnish a Room |
| Followed by | Hearing Secret Harmonies |
Temporary Kings is a novel by Anthony Powell, the penultimate in his twelve-volume novel, A Dance to the Music of Time. It was published in 1973 by Heinemann and remains in print as does the rest of the sequence. It takes place at a fictional 1958 symposium in Venice.
Temporary Kings has been characterized as a novel in the post-war consensus of literary compromise.[1] It also demonstrates Powell's evocation of art at all levels, most notably an (imaginary) Venetian ceiling painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo[2]
Temporary Kings received the W. H. Smith Prize in 1974.[3]
It is dedicated to Roland Gant, Powell's editor, who Powell called "one in a million."[4][5]
- ^ MacKay, Marina. “‘Temporary Kings’: The Metropolitan Novel Series and the Postwar Consensus.” Modern Fiction Studies 67, no. 2 (2021): 320–41.
- ^ June Sturrock (2010) The Arts in Anthony Powell's Temporary Kings: A Note and Some Comments, ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, 23:1, 56-60
- ^ Literary Thing: "Book awards: WH Smith Literary Award", accessed May 19, 2020
- ^ Spurling, Hilary.(2017). Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time. Hamish Hamilton, pp. 311-312.
- ^ Jay, Mike. (2013) "Who Were the Dedicatees of Powell’s Works?" The Anthony Powell Society Newsletter.50 (spring): 9-10.