Memoirs of Many in One

Library Journal

This latest novel by the Australian Nobel Prize winner (1973) takes an unusual look at the creative process, comparing it to the workings of the benignly insane mind. White assumes the role of editor of the fictitious memoirs of Alex Gray, a slightly mad old woman who, in her own words, is trying to ``discoverby writing outacting out my lifethe reason for my presence on earth.'' As with the novelist, her acting takes place mainly in her own mind, as she creates for herself a variety of roles from Greek Orthodox nun to Shakespearean actress. Thus the title's ``many in one.'' Only when the fragments are pieced together does the truth begin to emerge. A profound, if somewhat pessimistic, work, it belongs in all collections of serious literature.David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.