Denton Welch: The Making of A Writer

by Michael De-la-Noy

Literary Biography

Genres: Biography

312 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 1985

Reviews

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not as good as the Methuen-Campbell book, but De-La-Noy is an entertaining guide through Welch’s autobiographical writings to give us as close to a life story from the man himself. It doesn’t have any of the unbearable sense of loss that the later biography has, but I suspect Welch would have particularly enjoyed the more waspish and bitchy moments of De-La-Noy’s writing, especially the final paragraph which is one of the most hilariously bizarre ways to end what should be a tragic story you can imagine.

Welch would also have undeniably enjoyed De-La-Noy’s authorial blurb at the start. The biographer has in common the fact he hated his private school, to the extent that both ran away from them. In De-La-Noy’s case this was my old school (and we are united in our hatred of it, but only he was actually paid good money to write the official history of the school he ran away from) and he mentions proudly that he was twice winner of the Philpotts English Literature Prize as if this was some kind of staggering achievement. Mate, they awarded that to *me* and I’m just a doctor’s receptionist. They literally gave that to everyone for each stream every year. Incredibly funny to me and probably only me

[Lizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very disappointing biography.

Denton Welch's fiction is all autobiographical, so I'd expect a biography of him to fill in some of the blanks. Family history. What was his father doing in China. How did the doctor he became obsessed by feel about that. And what of Eric Oliver, who lived with him for the last years of his life. What's his story? How did he really feel about Denton - were they friends, lovers, partners? Was he just willing to accept that Denton adored him without feeling anything in return? Was he gay, bi, straight, or what?

This book has the family history and that's about all. The rest is a retelling of events described in Welch's diaries (edited by De-la-Noy) without any added insight.

[Harrison Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-done biography of an often-overlooked writer who sadly died young. While I have read much of Welch's works, including his published journals, I have yet to have read a biography. This succinct book is well researched, with a nice collection of photographs. Most if not all of Welch's works are autobiographical in nature, including his novels. This biography peels back the life of Welch as it diverges from the descriptions in his novels, adding information from outside sources. At the time this book was written, Welch's longtime companion was still alive and De-la-Noy was able to interview him for the book. (The book was published in 1984, and Welch died more than 35 years earlier in 1948.) The book's epilogue is particularly poignant, describing how few people attended his funeral, and how frivolously his works and belongings were distributed.