Roger Lewis, Anthony Burgess. London: Faber and Faber, 2002.

Roger Lewis, Anthony Burgess. London: Faber and Faber, 2002. Roger Lewis, Anthony Burgess. London: Faber and Faber Faber and Faber, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. , 2002. Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) is probably best-known for A ClockworkOrange (1962), subsequently made into a film directed by Stanley Kubrik(1971). An Education Officer in Malaya and Brunei between 1954 and 1959,Burgess's prodigious writings include Devil of a State Devil of a State is a 1961 novel by Anthony Burgess based on his experience living and working in Bandar Seri Begawan in the Southeast Asian sultanate of Brunei, on the island of Borneo, in 1958-59. (a novelabout Brunei published in 1961) and two memoirs, Little Wilson and BigGod (1987) and You've Had Your Time (1990). He also gave a talk onthe "Rebellion in Brunei," broadcast by BBC radio on 14December 1962. Burgess was accompanied in Brunei by his first wife, Llewela(1920-1968), known as "Lynne." Her "delinquency"culminated at an ambassadorial reception, Mr. Lewis relates (p. 231),when she managed both to throw a punch at one of the Sultan ofBrunei's cousins and to swear at the Duke of Edinburgh Noun 1. Duke of Edinburgh - Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)Philip, Prince Philip . Lewissurmises (p. 148) that Anthony and Lynne were lumbered with each otherbecause nobody else would tolerate either of them; which, if true, wouldrather beg the question Beg the Question is a graphic novel by Bob Fingerman. It chronicles the trials and tribulations of protagonists Rob — a squeamish freelance cartoonist/pornographer — and Sylvia — a beauty salon manager with loftier aspirations — as well as a as to how Burgess was able to re-marry within afew months of his first wife's demise. John Anthony Burgess Wilson, to give him his proper name, was a manof many and enviable talents. A prolific novelist, he was also aliterary critic, autobiographer, essayist, and reviewer; a broadcasterand lecturer; a composer and lyricist; not to mention a sometimesergeant-major and school-teacher. Born at Manchester on 25 February1917, he hardly knew his mother and sister, who both died in November1918, whilst his father followed in April 1937. After a secondaryeducation at Xaverian College in his home city, he proceeded to theUniversity of Manchester The University of Manchester is a university located in Manchester, England. With over 40,000 students studying 500 academic programmes, more than 10,000 staff and an annual income of nearly ��600 million it is the largest single-site University in the United Kingdom and receives , taking a Bachelor of Arts degree (IIi) inEnglish Language and Literature (1940); honorary doctorates followedfrom Manchester in 1982, Birmingham in 1986, and St. Andrews in 1991.His literary talents were recognized in his Fellowship of the RoyalSociety of Literature (FRSL FRSL Fellow of the Royal Society of LiteratureFRSL Free and Reduced School Lunch (program)FRSL Forestry Remote Sensing Laboratory ); and he was entered in Who's Who asearly as 1964. Twice married, he died on 22 November 1993, to besurvived by his widow, Liliana, Contessa Pasi Piani della Pergola. In an attempt at a debunking biography, Roger Lewis portrays Dr.Burgess as a Bulwer Lytton-type figure, i.e., revered as a leading manof letters man of lettersn. pl. men of lettersA man who is devoted to literary or scholarly pursuits.Noun 1. man of letters - a man devoted to literary or scholarly activities in his own day, but likely to be largely forgotten byposterity (p. 115n). Mr. Lewis knew the elderly Burgess personally andoffers a smirking acknowledgement to him (p. 417). Originally a greatadmirer of the Lancastrian, Mr. Lewis now judges him to have been acharlatan char��la��tann.A person fraudulently claiming knowledge and skills not possessed.charlatan (shar´l (so how do we know that in due course Mr. Lewis will notdecide that he was right first time round after all?). He does notappear to have received any assistance from the widow, nor (so far asone can tell) to have had access to Burgess's personal papers. Thebibliography includes only one secondary work on Brunei (by JamesBartholomew) and nothing at all with "Malaya" or"Malaysia" in the title. Hence we learn, for example, thatMalaya was an "unhandy un��hand��y?adj. un��hand��i��er, un��hand��i��est1. Difficult to handle or manage; unwieldy.2. Lacking manual skill or dexterity. federation of British colonies" (sic);and that the FMS FMS - Flexible Manufacturing System (factory automation). came into being in "1876" (sic) (p. 202). Mr.Lewis wonders "how tenable" Dr. Burgess'scharacterization of Malays might have been (p. 111); it might beadvanced that, had Mr. Lewis known or read more about Malaya himself, hemight have been in a position to offer an answer of his own.Burgess's success "came from impressing people who didn'tquite know better" (p. 29). This remark might have a widerapplication than Mr. Lewis appears to suppose; and it is unlikely thathis venomous book will provide the last word on the subject. Born on 26 February 1962, Roger Lewis was formerly a Fellow ofWolfson College, Oxford. He has written "numerous acclaimedbiographies" and is "a prolific literary journalist"(blurb); on the latter point, the same might have been said about Dr.Burgess. (A. V. M. Horton)