"A Severed Head (1961) is one of Iris Murdochs most entertaining works, tracing the turbulent emotional journey of Martin Lynch-Gibbon, a smug, prosperous London wine merchant and unfaithful husband, whose life is turned inside out when his wife leaves him for her psychoanalyst. The story takes bedroom farce to a new level of sophistication, with scenes that are both wickedly funny and emblematic of the way momentous moral issues play out in everyday life. The Booker Prizewinning The Sea, the Sea (1978) is set on the edge of Englands North Sea, where egotistical Charles Arrowby, a big name in Londons glittering theatrical world, has retreated into seclusion to write his memoirs. Arrowbys plans begin to unravel when he encounters his long-lost first love and finds himself increasingly besieged by his own fantasies, delusions, and obsessions."--Dust jacket.