Peter Sellers: The Authorized Biography

To write about the life of Peter Sellers is such a complex undertaking that only the best writers should attempt it. To try to understand a man who didn't even understand himself is inviting hubris. However, Alexander Walker has been a film critic of a leading London newspaper for many years and should have some idea of what he's taking on, having met Peter Sellers on a number of occasions and apparently been privileged to have been considered a friend (any real friendship is a privilege). It certainly reads well, without all the distasteful "muck-raking" with which other authors have found it necessary to pad their offerings. How accurate any biography (or autobiography for that matter) is, can only be guessed at, but this book appears to be trying honestly to depict and evaluate a man whose genius is only now beginning to be appreciated - rarely in one's own time or country, sadly.