18 MARCH 1989, page 31

Harry Mathews, Member Of The Oulipo

Adrian Dannatt L iterary cult figures are as inherently dubious as any others, often revered more for sexy life-stories than their oeuvre. Harry Mathews is undeniably a cult,......

Years Of Living Dangerously

Peter Levi A WRITER OR SOMETHING by Penelope Tremayne Unwin Hyman, £12.95, pp.305 T here are a few books where the in- terest of the story overrides all incoherence of style or......

A Selection Of Recent Paperbacks

Non-fiction The Count-Duke of Olivares by J. H. Elliott, Yale, £12.95 Time Was Away: A Journey through Corsi- ca and The Bandit on the Billiard Table: A Journey through Sardinia......