Recensione:
'The most perceptive, empathetic, well-researched and entertaining life of an actor that I have read' Simon Ward, Literary Review
'It may sound hyperbolic to suggest that a "mere" showbiz biography could be a deeply intelligent, acute piece of work, full of humanity and compassion and making one ponder the meaning of life but that is what Piers Paul Read achieves in his magnificent Alec Guinness: The Authorised Biography' Frank McLynn, Independent on Sunday's Books of the Year
'The biography I enjoyed most was Piers Paul Read's Alec Guinness, which vaulted clear of the normal showbiz biography and actually illuminated the perennial problems of existence' Frank McLynn, New Statesman
'Very finely constructed . . . Read seeks to engage with his subject on the deepest level and his most obvious vices, being those of the imagination, are far more stimulating than the virtues of better-behaved biographers' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
'Read's ability to dissect Guinness's emotions suggests why Merula thought he was the right man for the job' David Thomas, Sunday Telegraph
'Merula Guinness died shortly after her husband before this book was published. She would have been proud to read it. Read gives us an astonishingly moving portrait of a very complex man, his loving marriage, and his quest for spiritual solace. It is a warts-and-all portrait but Read effortlessly invokes compassion for his subject . . . It is engrossing . . . A splendid biography' Keith Baxter, Spectator
'A searching and moving book that is as much about Guinness's spiritual journey, sexual ambivalence and gift for friendship as about his stage and screen triumphs' Michael Billington, Country Life
'This is one of the best biographies of an actor that I have read' Christopher Silvester, Sunday Times
'Piers Paul Read's perceptive study about this much admired and most complicated of actors falls into that rare category of exceptional theatre biographies' Patrick Garland, The Oldie
'Piers Paul Read was a fine choice as Sir Alec's biographer . . . Read unsensationally approaches the subject [of homosexuality] with perception and balance . . . Outstanding . . .it is as subtle, percipient, sympathetic and entertaining as it is honest. If I were invited to nominate a book I had most enjoyed this year, I would choose this without hestitation' Anthony Symondson, Catholic Herald
'Diligent . . . respectfully thorough' Guardian
'[Lady Guinness's] instinct on settling on Read was spot-on . . . Read's style . . . perfectly matched to the task of trying to capture a man who beneath his smiles and comedy ears was at heart cold and prickly' The Tablet
'This superb, often cruelly disclosing, study of the enigmatic Guinness finally opens the curtains of that mental closet in which he concealed his inner self' Amateur Stage
'Excellent' David Hepworth, Word
'Penetrating . . . an accurate and celebratory portrait . . . Read leaves no stone unturned, revealing to readers the quirky, religious, contradictory, compassionate man Guinness truly was. A triumph' Good Book Guide
'Piers Paul Read had the eye and ear of a fine novelist . . . well-paced . . . good book' ECONOMIST
'Revealing' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'Read's memoir is a sumptuous affair . . . a thorough, measured and, by all accounts, definitive biography . . . it is a treat to come across a book such as this . . . hilarious asides . . . A blissful antidote to the forthcoming glut of celebrity biographies'
Observer
L'autore:
Piers Paul Read is the author of thirteen acclaimed novels, most recently ALICE IN EXILE, and four works of non-fiction, among them a history of the crusading order, THE TEMPLARS and the international bestseller ALIVE! Past novels have won the Hawthornden Prize and the Geoffrey Faber, Somerset Maugham and James Tail Black Awards. His occasional journalism includes a profile of Sir Alec Guinness written for THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE in 1985.
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