21 DECEMBER 1956, Page 24

IMAGINE A MAN. By Nigel Fitzgerald. (Collins, 10s. 6d.) Too

ma characters (and too tittle proof-reading) for perfect clarity; takes a solid ten pages or so of explanation at the end to reso the preposterous plot—but, all the same, Nigel Fitzgerald wri deliciously lightly civilised prose, whether about point-to-no characters in Ireland or film actresses in Italy : this is a detect story of the more debonair sort. nY it ve tes int ive