With the lure of book tours, television appearances and enough money to support his spendaholic cold-fish fiancee firmly in his sights, Harry moves into Mamoon's English country estate determined to write the biography of all biographies. (Speculation is rife that author Hanif Kureishi based Mamoon and Harry's relationship on that of real-life Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul and his biographer Patrick French.)
Harry's intense respect for Mamoon is compromised by his drunken yet brilliant editor's orders to dish the dirt, writing a book ''as mad and wild'' as he can because that's what people want.
Kureishi sets up the potential for conflict beautifully: Harry wants to write the facts, his editor wants the juicy facts, Mamoon's younger wife Liana wants only the facts that make Mamoon look good and Mamoon would rather play tennis, rant about his peers and discuss Harry's personal life than reveal anything about himself. Harry's almost superhuman ability to seduce women and his habit of wielding this power willy-nilly also seem destined to cause some drama.
The anticipated conflicts and the expectation of skeletons never materialise though, and act as a distraction from the clever one-liners and insights that Harry and Mamoon share on everything from the creative process to the state of the nation to love and sexuality. This is where the book is at its best.
- Laura Hewson is an ODT subeditor.
