Flaws in the Glass

William Dobell, Mrs South Kensington (1937)

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“I have never disguised a belief that, as an artist, my face is many-faceted, my body protean, according to time, climate, and the demands of fiction.”

Flaws in the Glass is Patrick White’s autobiography although, rather than a chronological story of his life, PW chose to write a “self-portrait”, consisting of several vignettes. The first half of the book includes reflections on PW’s youth and early adulthood, frank thoughts on his relationship to Australia and his homosexuality. He reflects on the challenges of writing, especially in light of often fierce criticism and reluctance on the part of the Australian people. PW is also brutally honest about his own temperament, arrogance, and other characteristics.

The “Self Portrait” is followed by “Journeys”, in which PW reflects on his more recent journeys through Greece with Manoly Lascaris. Finally, in „Episodes and Epitaphs“, PW provides a series of quick thoughts on some of his bugbears and least favourite figures, from former Governor-General Sir John Kerr to his former friend Sidney Nolan, the Nobel Prize, and even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth herself.

Editions:

• Jonathan Cape (UK, October 1981, 260pp)
• Viking (US, February 1982, 260pp)
• Hear-a-Book (Audiobook, 1982, read by Harper Wilson)
• Penguin (AU, 1983)
• S. Fischer Verlag (trans: Reinhard Kaiser, Germany, 1984, Risse im spiegel)
• Gallimard (Jean Lambert, Defauts dans le miroir: un autoportrait, 1985)
• Royal Blind Society of New South Wales (Audiobook, 1985, read by Richard Morecroft and Hugh Wade)
• Australian Learning Library (Audiobook, 198?, read by Dorothy Aherne)
• Vintage (UK, 1998)
• Louis Braille Audio (Audiobook, 2001, read by James Condon)

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History: PW began writing in late 1979. He was buoyed by a determination to share his homosexuality publicly before someone else did. He also had developed a sense of purpose as a sort of Australian prophet, arguing against corruption, nuclear proliferation, the monarchy, and other issues. PW had grand ideas (“a self-portrait as truthfully and simply as I can make it”) but also was typically self-deprecating, referring to the book in casual conversation as The Poof’s Progress.

PW took a slightly different approach with this book to his novels. He had grown reluctant to excerpt novels prior to print but here he had fewer compunctions. Early excerpts were given in the Bulletin centenary edition in January 1980 (PW’s friend Geoffrey Dutton was the current editor). And in 1981, the London Observer reportedly paid £10,000 to excerpt some pages prior to publication. Whereas PW’s partner Manoly would reach each manuscript in final draft stage, he was not given the opportunity here. When at last he did read the book, which exposed their long relationship and included uncensored thoughts on the Lascaris family, there were reportedly some tense moments between the two.

When the Observer excerpts reached the printing house, Sidney Nolan was notified of PW’s unfettered comments about him. PW claimed that Nolan had not been supportive enough of his late wife Cynthia in the lead-up to her suicide, said that he (PW) had always preferred Cynthia to her husband, and alleged that Nolan had moved on far too quickly after Cynthia’s death, suggesting a cold, even villainous aspect to the painter. Nolan tried to get the book stopped when he found out about this content. Others were similarly put out; PW’s publishers tried to get him to excise the section about Sir John Kerr, the controversial former Governor-General of Australia, but to no avail.

The memoir’s release became front-page news, and many friends were shocked or at least unhappy about it. David Marr notes it was referred to as “Claws in the Arse” by some of those impacted. Legendary soprano Dame Joan Sutherland, for example, was taken aback to find herself described as an intellectual simpleton, having only met PW on social occasions. A former equerry to the Queen took the time to write to the Sydney Morning Herald on 26/10/1981 to complain about PW’s portrayal of Her Majesty! The press couldn’t get enough of it, and Graeme Murphy even asked – unsuccessfully – for the rights to choreograph a ballet version of Flaws.

But it was the Nolan/White rift that gained the most media exposure. On 27/2/1982, the SMH reported that Nolan had created several artworks in response, including “Nightmare”, in which PW is seen near a dog’s backside, with the dog looking a lot like Manoly. (The SMH thought it may instead be a cockroach). There were also some drawings in which PW is thrust into Dante’s “sodomites’ circle of hell”, to quote Marr. Eight of Nolan’s Rimbaud paintings were exhibited in 1983, including “Faces of the Damned”, which was reportedly based on PW as well. In 1990, the year PW died, Nolan visited Australia and tried to arrange a ceasefire with him using Barry Jones as an intermediary; PW declined.

In September 1992, Nolan was interviewed by Sally Begbie for The 7:30 Report from London (he would die only months later). He said that “Patrick White was a bitch and a bastard, really, and a great writer – so how you work these things out I don’t know.” Nolan acknowledged that he was also both of those things but of course the implications about causing Cynthia’s suicide were unfair. He felt that PW didn’t quite understand the passion of heterosexual love, even suggesting the writer was jealous of what Nolan could get away with because of the acceptableness of heterosexuality. Nolan would have liked to end the feud years earlier, he says, but now he is done, forgiving PW posthumously.)

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Sales: The initial print run in the UK was 15,000. The book sold well in the Commonwealth but less so in the USA, where PW had largely ascended into the pantheon of literary writers whom no-one really read. Memoirs, in the earlier parts of the 20th century, were reserved for especially notable figures – or those wealthy enough to have their own published. By the 1980s they were becoming de rigeur for artistic, political, and athletic figures. Many reviewers were confused by the structure, especially by the Durrell-ian travel narrative in the middle. But Greece had played a significant role in PW’s inner life since his time there during WWII, and he continued to be fascinated by its culture and what he saw – much like his view of Australia – as an unfulfilled potential in recent years.

PW claimed as always that reviews were poor; they were for the most part quite good.

Reviews:

• JD Pringle, SMH, 17/10/1981
• Robert Drewe, Bulletin, 20/10/1981
• Hal Porter, “Autobiographer’s Freak Show”, The Age 24/10/1981
• Maurice Dunlevy, “Portrait of the Artist as Manic Depressive”, 24/10/1981
• Ronald Conway, Australian, 24-25/10/1981
• John Hay, Courier-Mail, 26/10/1981
• Kate Kellaway, New Statesman, 30/10/1981
• Economist, 31/10/1981
• Rose Marie Beston, Kunapipi 3.2 (1981)
• Angus Wilson, Observer, 1/11/1981
• Caroline Moorhead, Spectator 7/11/1981
• Terry Colman, Guardian Weekly 8/11/1981:
  • “A disagreeable and very disappointing book.”
• Dorothy Green, National Times 8-14 Nov 1981
• Elizabeth Riddell, Bulletin 10/11/1981
• Dan Davin, TLS 20/11/1981
• Noel Adams, Advertiser 21/11/1981
• Booklist, 1/12/1981
• Ronald Blythe, Listener 61, 10/12/1981
• C.K. Stead, London Review of Books 3.19 (1981)
• Francis King, London Magazine 21.7 (1981)
• Kirkus Reviews, 15/12/1981
  • “Likable? Mostly not. And too miscellaneous for shapely satisfaction. But White’s twisty sensibility and dazzling prose turn each place and person here into a matter of surprising, tangible interest.”
• Publishers Weekly, 18/12/1981
• Peter Shrubb, Quadrant 25.12 (December 1981)
• John McLaren, Australian Book Review, December 1981
• Leonie Kramer, Quadrant Jan 1982
• Library Journal, 15/1/1982
• Book World, 31/1/1982
• New York Times Book Review, 7/2/1982
• Saturday Review, February 1982
• Newsweek, 1/3/1982
• M. Howard, The Atlantic, March 1982
• Veronica Brady, Westerly 27.1 (March 1982)
• Nadine Gordimer, New York Review of Books, 15/4/1982
• George Turner, Overland 87 (May 1982)
• Brian Kiernan, Southerly 42.2 (June 1982)
• New Yorker 7/6/1982

Also published in 1981: Peter Carey, Bliss; Albert Facey, A Fortunate Life; Maya Angelou, The Heart of a Woman; Toni Morrison, Tar Baby; Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold

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