Books, Arts & Manners: Getting to the Heart of the Matter

The Life of Graham Greene, Volume Two: 1939-1955, by Norman Sherry (Viking, 592 pp., $34.95)

THERE has been a race on in the British biography market. Norman Sherry, Graham Greene’s official chronicler, discovered he had two competitors: Michael Sheldon and Anthony Mockler. Mockler’s threat was initially scotched by Greene’s lawyers, with only brief sections of the book appearing in the Sunday Telegraph. But both battled on and, encouraged by Greene’s death in 1992, threatened to beat Sherry to the post. Sheldon was offering the complete life, Mockler the first of two volumes, stopping at 1945. Given that Sherry was only taking us up to 1955, and that many of the revealing documents were in public hands, something of a panic was on. Release dates got ratcheted back, typesetters performed amazing feats, and all three books rushed breathlessly onto the market, neck and neck.

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The Life of Graham Greene, Volume Two: 1939-1955, by Norman Sherry (Viking, 592 pp., $34.95)

THERE has been a race on in the British biography market. Norman Sherry, Graham Greene’s official chronicler, discovered he had two competitors: Michael Sheldon and Anthony Mockler. Mockler’s threat was initially scotched by Greene’s lawyers, with only brief sections of the book appearing in the Sunday Telegraph. But both battled on and, encouraged by Greene’s death in 1992, threatened to beat Sherry to the post. Sheldon was offering the complete life, Mockler the first of two volumes, stopping at 1945. Given that Sherry was only taking us up to 1955, and that many of the revealing documents were in public hands, something of a panic was on. Release dates got ratcheted back, typesetters performed amazing feats, and all three books rushed breathlessly onto the market, neck and neck.