From Publishers Weekly
Burgess's last book, published in England two years ago, shortly before the author's death, is a masterly piece of work. It is an extraordinary reflection on the state of American publishing that the novel had to wait so long for publication here, and then be brought out only by a small but enterprising company like Carroll & Graf. Like Burgess's Nothing Like the Sun 30 years ago (arguably the finest novel ever written about Shakespeare), this volume reflects the author's magical sense of language and his deep immersion in the Elizabethan ethos. The story of the short life of brilliant young playwright Christopher Marlowe is ostensibly told by an actor of the time; so perfectly is the period voice caught that it is hard to believe the novelist was not transcribing contemporary documents. Marlowe is seen as a student at Cambridge, soon caught up in the life of a secret agent, shuttling between England and France as the religious struggles of the time reach their apex in the slaying of Mary Queen of Scots. Himself a skeptic, and an active homosexual (frolicking with the young heir of the powerful Earl of Walsingham), Marlowe manages for several risky years to keep his head above the sectarian waters, working when he can at his plays, ever after "the mighty line." Then some of his fellow conspirators, suspicious of him, fabricate a brawl on a spring evening in a tavern and he is slain, still in his 20s. Burgess's command of his material is absolute; he wrote his student thesis, he tells us, on Marlowe and brings a lifetime's linguistic and fictional gifts to this headlong, shining, cruel portrait of a terrifying-but posthumously glorious-age. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Written to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Marlowe's death in 1593, the late Burgess's final book is essentially a novelization of Charles Nicholl's revisionist biography, The Reckoning (LJ 3/1/94). In Nicholl's view, Marlowe was a secret agent paid by spymaster Francis Walsingham to infiltrate the insurgent Catholic underground. However, as a freethinker and a homosexual, Marlowe had little use for Catholics or Protestants and preferred to spend his time promoting atheism and smoking the new drug tobacco, a habit he likened to "buggery of the lungs." Burgess brilliantly evokes the murky world of Elizabethan politics, where even a person's name is a mystery. Marlowe is also known as Morley and Merlin, and an apprentice playwright answers to Shagspaw, Choxper, and Jacquespere. One of this prolific author's finest books, A Dead Man in Deptford is a worthy companion volume to Burgess's classic Shakespeare novel, Nothing Like the Sun (1964). For all collections.?Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los AngelesCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Burgess' posthumous novel shows he went out with a bang not a whimper. It's a splendidly atmospheric re-creation of the life of eminent Elizabethan playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe. Burgess delves full tilt into the controversy that has circulated for ages about Marlowe: he was involved in spy work for the Crown, and his violent end--he was stabbed to death in a bar brawl--had something to do with his involvement in diplomatic intrigue. Marlowe's homosexuality is definitely not left to nuance and suggestion as Burgess sculpts, in lush, elegant writing, a viable Marlowe, at once genius and bad boy. Burgess witnesses Marlowe's life and career(s), passions, and cloak-and-dagger deceptions through the eyes of a man who knew the great writer both intimately and objectively. It's history come to life; Burgess' sense of smelly bodies, religious fanaticism, and death lurking around every corner is immaculate. A delicious engagement of the past for every fiction lover. Brad Hooper


Book Description
With A Dead Man in Deptford, Burgess concluded his literary career to overwhelming acclaim for his re-creation of the Elizabethan poet Christopher Marlowe. In lavish, pitch-perfect, and supple, readable prose, Burgess matches his splendid Shakespeare novel, Nothing Like the Sun. The whole world of Elizabethan England-from the intrigues of the courtroom, through the violent streets of London, to the glory of the theater-comes alive in this joyous celebration of the life of Christopher Marlowe, murdered in suspicious circumstances in a tavern brawl in Deptford more than four hundred years ago.

FROM OUR EDITORS

A novel that celebrates the life of Christopher Marlowe, murdered under highly suspicious circumstances in a tavern brawl in Deptford, England four hundred years ago. A kaleidoscopic portrait of the most vivid age in British history.

ANNOTATION

The whole of Elizabethan England--from the court and its intrigue to the theatre and its genius to London and its slums--is brilliantly recreated in this joyous celebration of the life of Christopher Marlowe, killed in highly suspicious circumstances in a tavern brawl in Deptford hundreds of years ago.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess capped the fifth act of a luminous literary career with a vibrant celebration of a life - that of the Elizabethan playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe. In a splendid fiction Burgess brings to the page a motley England of courtly intrigue, dangerous conspiracy, terrifying sixteenth-century London streets, and glorious theater that lead the mercurial Kit Marlowe to some celebrity, reckless espionage, audacious liaisons, and a legendary death in a barroom brawl at Deptford.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Burgess's last book, published in England two years ago, shortly before the author's death, is a masterly piece of work. It is an extraordinary reflection on the state of American publishing that the novel had to wait so long for publication here, and then be brought out only by a small but enterprising company like Carroll & Graf. Like Burgess's Nothing Like the Sun 30 years ago (arguably the finest novel ever written about Shakespeare), this volume reflects the author's magical sense of language and his deep immersion in the Elizabethan ethos. The story of the short life of brilliant young playwright Christopher Marlowe is ostensibly told by an actor of the time; so perfectly is the period voice caught that it is hard to believe the novelist was not transcribing contemporary documents. Marlowe is seen as a student at Cambridge, soon caught up in the life of a secret agent, shuttling between England and France as the religious struggles of the time reach their apex in the slaying of Mary Queen of Scots. Himself a skeptic, and an active homosexual (frolicking with the young heir of the powerful Earl of Walsingham), Marlowe manages for several risky years to keep his head above the sectarian waters, working when he can at his plays, ever after ``the mighty line.'' Then some of his fellow conspirators, suspicious of him, fabricate a brawl on a spring evening in a tavern and he is slain, still in his 20s. Burgess's command of his material is absolute; he wrote his student thesis, he tells us, on Marlowe and brings a lifetime's linguistic and fictional gifts to this headlong, shining, cruel portrait of a terrifying-but posthumously glorious-age. (May)

Library Journal