Russian Roulette

Russian Roulette bounds along with fluency, clarity and wry humour – John Walsh * Sunday Times *
At last, a biography that does justice to Graham Greene … [Richard Greene] writes briskly and engagingly, with a wry wit and an endearing fondness for trivia and puns. He is also less giddy, and less of a hero-worshipper, than most of the previous biographers … Greene emerges from these pages in three dimensions, as a uniquely fascinating man – Jake Kerridge * Sunday Telegraph *
Nicely written and well-judged cradle-to-grave portrait that needed to be conventional and unshowy, and is all the better for it … Richard Greene has mastered a tremendous amount of material – Nicholas Shakespeare * Spectator *
Richard Greene-no relation-says ruefully of Graham Greene that his life is “sometimes boiled down to sex, books and depression” by critics. In his exhaustive, engaging study of Greene, his biographer attempts to reclaim him as a writer who speaks to our “unquiet world” rather than being mired in “Greeneland,” a place where betrayal and guilt trudge glumly on together … This thoughtful book clearly shows the cost of a life lived on the run – Alexander Larman * Prospect *
Thank goodness for Richard Greene, whose splendid one-volume biography offers a succinct counterbalance to Sherry’s inedible trifle and conjures the man Evelyn Waugh nicknamed “Grisjambon Vert” (French for “grey ham green”) in all his perplexing variety. Where Sherry is tactless and indecorous, Richard Greene (no relation) is respectful and considered. Crisply written, Russian Roulette takes its title from Greene’s vaunted flirtation with suicide as a teenager in Berkhamsted outside London, where his father was a school headmaster … Cogently argued and happily free of jargon, Russian Roulette offers a long-needed antidote to “dirty linen” biographers who have sought to expose a darker shade of Greene and, in consequence, lost sight of the books. At last Graham Greene has the biographer he deserves – Ian Thomson * Evening Standard *
A brilliant new biography * Daily Mail *
The best biography I read this year … Richard Greene never met the author, but he conjures him back to life in a sensible, unsensational way – Nicholas Shakespeare * Spectator *
Well-researched, neatly written * Private Eye *
Seamlessly and perceptively, Greene’s life experiences are melded with the content of his novels, to establish him as a master craftsman who comes close to greatness * Daily Mail *
Perceptive, refreshingly unsolemn, lively, at times funny, and shrewd throughout. It’s also a wonderfully bright and entertaining read – John Banville

Richard Greene is Professor of English at Toronto University and a renowned biographer.

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