Master Why

The Reverend G.K. Booth, 1912–2000 Sheltering behind a dramatic alter ego, with mock locations and a cast of barely disguised real-life characters, the author gives a candid portrayal of his own strutting, fretting hour on life’s stage. Lonely child, Oxford scholar, war-time deacon, public school housemaster and college lecturer were the conventional roles he played but jealous passion and unorthodox behind-the-scenes goings-on enliven his inimitable relationships and provoke ruthless self-examination. Telegrammatic prose, infuriating conceit, unbowdlerised sex and radical faith characterise this unusual work, but, ultimately, what holds the scenes together is his determination to make sense of the whole cosmic production and, in particular, his own earthly parts in it.