He resisted using the telephone in favor of writing letters, which he did with an old-fashioned pen dipped in ink. He loathed the modern world and its technology he refused to fly in a plane or learn to how to drive a car. Evelyn Waugh was incredibly old-fashioned.Īccording to NBC producer Edwin Newman, who filmed a TV interview with Waugh in 1956, the novelist wished he had been born 200 or 300 years earlier. In 1936, Waugh had his first marriage annulled and married Gardner’s cousin, Laura Herbert, in 1937. The marriage broke down a year later, however, when Gardner had an affair with their mutual friend, John Heygate, and eventually left Waugh for him. Their friends called them He-Evelyn and She-Evelyn. Waugh married Evelyn Gardner, an aristocratic socialite, in June 1928 despite the objections of her family they thought Waugh lacked ambition and direction. Evelyn Waugh’s first wife was also named Evelyn. Ironically, Waugh's given first name was Arthur (Evelyn was one of his middle names). Waugh's Italian host was ecstatic to hear about the arrival of the female-sounding Evelyn Waugh, and raced to the airport with a bouquet of flowers-and was sorely disappointed. When Waugh arrived in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia and Eritrea) in the 1930s, on assignment from the Daily Mail, he found that the Italian military's occupation of the city of Asmara had resulted in a population of seven white women and 60,000 men. In 2016, a TIME poll even named him the 97th 'most read female author in college classes,' a mistake that inevitably went viral. Waugh was often mistaken in print for a woman, thanks to his first name. Evelyn Waugh's first name caused confusion.

Here are 12 facts about his colorful life and work. But many readers don’t know much about Evelyn Waugh, the man, who was born in London in 1903. From his early satires, like Decline and Fall, to his more serious works, like Brideshead Revisited, Waugh is beloved by both literary critics and readers. Evelyn Waugh was one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh