Alasdair Gray: A Secretary's Biography by Rodge Glass

Reviews written for the paperback edition of this entertaining biography are pre-empted by the fact that Gray himself has written his own review of the book in the Guardian. Gray complained that the book overstated his feelings for his first wife, Inge, after their marriage. I suspect this is correct – I know Alasdair Gray slightly (he’s a friend of my grandparents), and so noticed an error where the cover of the book Mavis Belfrage is said to bear a picture “that looks very like Inge”. In fact, it's exactly like a picture of my Aunt which Gray drew for her wedding invitations because he lifted it wholly, with her permission, for Mavis. However, my (nauseating / very Glaswegian) nitpicking should not demean this largely well researched biography of a tricky subject. Glass is not a psychologist, and even the world’s best psychologist would probably regard Alasdair Gray the way a chicken would regard calculus. Yet the book gives a sense of how puzzling a character Gray is, and Glass’s inclusion himself in the narrative, stresses that this is his personal portrait, and in the end that’s how this book should be judged. It’s a portrait to be proud of. [Keir Hind]