Tall story
Sir: Graham Greene did indeed believe that his favourite bar-restaurant in Antibes, the Felix au Port, was 'a great short-story cafe, as Jeffrey Bernard reported (Low life, 3 June). But in describing how Greene tried to persuade him to write short stories, Jeff omits to mention that Greene even gave him a plot to get him started.
It happened in August 1988 when I was in Antibes interviewing Greene for the Sunday Express, and afterwards I took both him and Jeff to lunch at the Felix.
Over the third bottle of wine Greene announced that while some restaurants could inspire whole novels, others, like the Felix, were short-story restaurants — and at that very moment a sulky, young English- woman at a nearby table with three young . men pulled out her cheque book and whined loudly, 'Why do I always end up paying the bill?'
Greene looked at us and grinned. He was right: why did she always end up paying the bill?
If Greene hadn't been 85 he would have written the story himself. Jeffrey's duty is clearly to placate the old man's ghost and write it for him.
Graham Lord
Raconteur,
44 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1
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