Francis King
My most impressive book of the year is Before Night Falls (Viking, £16), the posthumously published autobiography of the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. Arenas suffered horrendously under Castro. Manuscripts of his novels were constantly being seized by the secret police, and much of his time was spent in hiding, in prison or in labour camps. Having eventually escaped to Florida, he found that many American intellectuals were far from wel- coming to so intransigent an opponent of the Cuban regime. Arenas was not merely a great writer but also a hero.
My cleverest book of the year is Ian Hamilton's galantine of old reviews Walk- ing Possession (Bloomsbury. £20). Who can fail to be delighted by the agility with which Hamilton now stealthily deflates some long
established reputation and now gives an energetic blow-job to the reputation of some such chum as Martin Amis or Julian Barnes?
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