Clive Sinclair Biography

British writer, born in London, educated at the Universities of East Anglia and California. The stories collected in Hearts of Gold (1979) and Bedbugs (1982), like much of his subsequent fiction, are characterized by an acerbic humour and a fascination with the nature of Jewish identity. For Good and Evil (1991) is a selection of stories from his previous volumes. His novel Blood Libels (1985) focuses on Jake Silkstone, a Jewish writer who becomes unwittingly involved in the activities of an anti-Semitic sect, ‘The Children of Albion’, and whose attempts to atone for his error implicate him in the political complexities of the state of Israel. Similar themes are explored in the blackly comic Cosmetic Effects (1989). With Augustus Rex (1992) Sinclair meshed history and fairy tale with imaginative skill; Strindberg, who had formerly made a pact with Beelzebub, the narrator of the novel, is resurrected in 1960s Sweden and, as Augustus Rex, rescues the nation through his alchemical abilities. Diaspora Blues (1987) is a travel book.