PRITCHETT, V.S.

born Dec. 16, 1900, Ipswich, Suffolk, Eng. died March 20, 1997, London byname of Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett British novelist, short-story writer, and critic known for his ironic style and his lively portraits of middle-class life. Pritchett was educated at local schools in London and became a full-time journalist in 1922, traveling widely on assignments in the following years. He published several novels in the 1930s, along with short stories and critical essays. He was a literary critic for the New Statesman (1926-65) and occasionally wrote travel articles for the Christian Science Monitor. Both of these occupations proved fruitful; his journalism sharpened his powers of observation, and Pritchett eventually became as well known for his perceptive essays and reviews as for his penetrating and finely crafted short stories. His novels are generally considered to be less successful. His short stories were published in several volumes, including You Make Your Own Life (1938), Collected Stories (1956), Blind Love and Other Stories (1969), and More Collected Stories (1983). Spain, London, and New York City were the subjects of four of his travel books. He wrote two memoirs, A Cab at the Door (1968) and Midnight Oil (1971). Collections of his critical essays include The Myth Makers (1979) and A Man of Letters (1985). Pritchett was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1968 and knighted in 1975.