Obituary
Novelist Christopher Priest has died. His books could be maddening, dizzying, confusing, but regardless of how far into science fiction they strayed were firmly rooted in explorations of what it felt like to be human. He will be best remembered as the author of The Prestige, later turned into a film by Christopher Nolan, but my favourite books of his were those which strayed into psychological thriller, The Glamour, A Dream of Wessex and especially The Affirmation.
I only met him once, at Essex Book Festival in 2017, but I’m glad I got to tell him how much his work meant to me. The tower of books in the picture accompanying this obit is my Priest library at the time from which I had to make a selection to have signed.
I met him at a party in London, late sixties. Very memorable because he wore a fringed suede suit and cowboy boots, and a big Afghan hippie shoulder bag.