In the 1960s, Christopher Isherwood gave an unprecedented series of lectures at California universities on the theme "A Writer and His World." During this time Isherwood, who would liberate the memoir and become the founding father of modern gay writing, spoke openly for the first time about his craft--on writing for film, theater, and novels--and on spirituality. Isherwood on Writing brings these public addresses together to reveal a distinctly--and surprisingly--American Isherwood.

Given at a critical time in Isherwood's career, these lectures mark the era when he...