Soon afterwards he moved to Paris (arrest was on the cards had he stayed in the US), which became ''home'' for the next 15 years.
The timeframe of Inside a Pearl kicks off from that move as White finds his social niche in a city whose inhabitants make no effort to speak ''English'', and where his ''French'' is greeted with shrugged shoulders and the French equivalent of polite laughter. However, a succession of American and later European lovers goes some way to making his efforts worthwhile.
Indeed, his writing and witty observations are much in demand, especially by editors and owners of glossy magazine editors such as Harper's and Vogue, and the more liberal newspapers (has he written for any New Zealand magazines I wonder?)
Although slightly tedious at times (how many names should a writer drop on a single page?), White's sympathetic approach to his subject material, his ability to wittily and succinctly sum up the foibles and character of those he meets, whether multimillionaire business types and politicians, or once-beautiful authors and opera stars, ensures the narrative remains interesting. The scene shifts, too, with trips here and there within France and Europe in general.
Strangely, I thought the most interesting chapter concerned White's ''hundreds of cross-Channel trips to London'', where parties could be arranged with a few phone calls (unheard of in Paris) and where he rubs shoulders with such British notables as Nigella Lawson, Julian Barnes, Salman Rushdie and Stephen Fry, not to mention new and old boyfriends.
There you have Inside a Pearl in a nutshell.
- Ian Williams is a Dunedin writer and composer.
