Alan Bennett is one of Britain's most successful and popular living writers. He is also one of the last survivors of a generation of rule-breakers and radicals that first found its voice with "Beyond the Fringe" in 1961. Since then, he has gone on to huge success with his plays ( Kafka's Dick, An Englishman Abroad ), films ( A Private Function, Prick Up Your Ears, The Madness of King George ), monologues ( Talking Heads ) and diaries ( Writing Home, The Lady in the Van ). In Backing into the Limelight , Alex Games examines the life of this intriguing, private man and sheds new light on his work.
I love a good biography and this is undoubtedly one of the best in it's genre. Although unauthorised (no surprise, it is Alan Bennett after all) it probably should have been - it's at a quality that I'm sure even a Yorkshire laureate would approve of.