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Article: The Life of Graham Greene, vol. 1, 1904-1939.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- September 29, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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One of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century," says the publisher's blurb, "Graham Greene has been until now a most elusive personality, guarding his privacy and remaining aloof, mysterious and unpredietable. . . . the story of his life is one of the greatest challenges that a biographer could face." This is true. The next statement- "Norman Sherry has taken up this challenge and made it a triumph of literary detection and narrative"-is not. As a biography this disappoints. As a novel about Professor Sherry's relationship with his evasive subject,
it is continuously amusing. Greene, like Kolly Kibber in Brighton Rock, leaves clues inviting Sherry to ...