14 MAY 1983, page 26

Madness And Authority

Anthony Thwaite Robert Lowell: A Biography Ian Hamilton (Faber & Faber £12.50) I rk 1966 Robert Lowell remarked in a letter: 'John B. in his mad way keeps talking about......

Stories Galore

Marghanita Laski Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter Mario Vargas Llosa (Faber £7.95) T he belief that the craft of narrative fic- tion is alive, well, and putting on flesh in South......