In this witty Borgeslike fiction A. S. Byatt weaves a dazzling fiction outof one mans search for fact. Fed up with stultifying criticism Phineas Gdecides to stu... » 

In this witty Borgeslike fiction A. S. Byatt weaves a dazzling fiction outof one mans search for fact. Fed up with stultifying criticism Phineas Gdecides to study the messiness of real life. Doing nothing by halves he setsout to write a biography of a great biographer. But a whole life is hard tofind. How do we put the idea of a person together? Everywhere he looks hefinds fragments and gaps bones and husks oxes of marbles collections ofcoins and undated postcards. Trails run cold and mysteries are unresolved.Phineas feels he is hunting shadows Like a shaman flying across the globe hismind tracks the journeys of his subjects to the deserts of Africa and themaelstroms of the Arctic where the shapes of myth meet the patterns ofscience. He meets others building wholes from bits and pieces taxonomistsecologists to trave agents offering the trip of your dreams. In the processhe also puzzles out his own future but which woman will guide him out of thelabyrinth?Phineas G. is fed up with stultifying criticism and decides to study the messiness of real life. Doing nothing by halves he sets out to write a biography of a great biographer. But a whole life is hard to find. How do we put the idea of a person together? Everywhere he looks he finds fragments and gaps. Trails run cold and mysteries are unresolved. Phineas G. is fed up with stultifying criticism and decides to study the messiness of real life. Doing nothing by halves he sets out to write a biography of a great biographer. But a whole life is hard to find. How do we put the idea of a person together? Everywhere he looks he finds fragments and gaps. Trails run cold and mysteries are unresolved. «