Temporary Kings
First edition cover | |
| Author | Anthony Powell |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | James Broom-Lynne |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Dance to the Music of Time |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Preceded by | Books Do Furnish a Room |
| Followed by | Hearing Secret Harmonies |
Temporary Kings is a novel by Anthony Powell, the penultimate in his twelve-volume novel, A Dance to the Music of Time. It was published in 1973 by Heinemann and remains in print, as does the rest of the sequence. It takes place at a fictional 1958 literary symposium in Venice.
Temporary Kings has been characterized as a novel in the post-war consensus of literary compromise. It also demonstrates Powell's evocation of art at all levels, most notably a (fictional) Venetian ceiling painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Temporary Kings received the W. H. Smith Prize in 1974.
It is dedicated to Roland Gant, Powell's editor, who Powell called "one in a million."