Norman LewisSeptember 13, 2008 John Ray(Bristol, England) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First rate. Extensively and sympathetically researched. Very readable. Just right for the coming grey,damp weekends.
The semi-invisible man revealedAugust 5, 2008 Barton Keyes(England) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an outstandingly good biography. It is very long, agreed, but it is written superbly well and with great insight so that it becomes a real page-turner.
It peels back the layers of Lewis's contradictory character very objectively while interspersing the details of the man's life with ruminations on the nature of biography and speculations about the motives that drove his messy personal life and perpetual restlessness. Yet it does not descend into cod-psychology or into an apologia or -- despite the author's obvious affection for his subject -- into hagiography. It has obviously been crafted with great care and I have not read a biography I enjoyed so much for a very long time
