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the Complete Review
the complete review - fiction



Memoirs of Many in One

by
Patrick White


general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

To purchase Memoirs of Many in One



Title: Memoirs of Many in One
Author: Patrick White
Genre: Novel
Written: 1986
Length: 192 pages
Availability: Memoirs of Many in One - US
Memoirs of Many in One - UK
Memoirs of Many in One - Canada
Mémoires éclatés d'Alex Xenophon Demirjian Gray - France
  • The novel is presented as being the memoir of Alex Xenophon Demirjian Gray, and merely edited by White
  • Originally published on April Fool's Day
  • The Text re-issue comes with an Introduction by Sophie Cunningham

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Our Assessment:

B : well written, often amusing, but not our cup o' tea

See our review for fuller assessment.



Review Summaries
Source Rating Date Reviewer
London Rev. of Books . 8/5/1986 Philip Horne
Macleans' . 20/10/1986 John Bemrose
The NY Times Book Rev. B 26/10/1986 Jonathan Baumbach
Publishers Weekly . 15/8/1986 .


Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers.

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The complete review's Review:

       Memoirs of Many in One is a memoir ostensibly written by Alex Xenophon Demirjian Gray and edited by her friend, Patrick White. Ms. Gray, of advanced age and questionable mental balance, is not an authorial guise that appeals to us. White always writes well, and there are some exceptional passages here (and some brutally funny ones as well), but Gray's meandering and confused narrative is both too much and too little for us. "It's about premature senility," White described the book, promising that: "it's a very funny subject." Possibly so, but we were less amused.
       White's honesty and disregard for whom he might offend is commendable. Nevertheless, we could not entirely warm to the book. It lacks the focus of his other works, and while of similar breadth it covers far too much in too few pages. An interesting read, we can not say that we truly liked it. Hesitantly recommended.

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Links:

Memoirs of Many in One: Patrick White: Other books by Patrick White under review: Other books of interest under review:

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About the Author:

       Patrick White (1912-1990), Australian author. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973. Schooled in England (at Cheltenham, and King's College, Cambridge). His first novel Happy Valley was published in 1939. Worked for R.A.F Intelligence during WWII, after which he returned to Australia.

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