A new book describes John le Carré’s philandering
He described his affairs as a “necessary drug for writing” as they mimicked spycraft
In 2010 Adam Sisman wrote to John le Carré, proposing a biography of the novelist and former spy. Mr Sisman viewed le Carré—whose real name was David Cornwell—as “the definitive writer of the cold-war era”, someone who had captured post-imperial Britain’s disputed place on the global stage in books such as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”. Cornwell agreed to lengthy interviews and encouraged Mr Sisman to write “without restraints”.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “State of affairs”
Culture October 14th 2023
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- A new book describes John le Carré’s philandering
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