Patrick White: Letters Book

An interesting read, especially for Patrick White fans. You gain a very good idea of his character, the number of friends he kept up a correspondence over a long period of time, his love of his partner, Manoly, (a relationship that lasted over 45 years - until White's death), how novels took him on average two years to write, his moral stances, his philanthropy, his love of original paintings by present day artists, his love of opera and plays, his grumpiness and what he reckonised as his vice - his lack of forgiveness. He didn't discuss his novels much but had plenty to say about books he read, countries he visited, his illnesses, the fact the he was the cook in the household. He was fortunate to be able to live off his inheritance and royalties from his books. After he won the Nobel Prize in 1973 with the $82,000 prize money, he established a Trust to award a sum of money each year for old Australian novelists who were not well off.