The Black Archive #65: The Myth Makers
by Ian Potter (Obverse Books, 2023)
A deeply researched study in authorship. Potter debunks production myths, compares iterations of text, and reconstructs the development of The Myth Makers from commissioning to recording. While the detailed biography of writer Donald Cotton is especially welcome, numerous typos undermine the scholarship.
Troy
Review of “Troy” by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, 2020); audiobook read by Stephen Fry (Penguin, 2020)
Stephen Fry brings alive the mythological epic that is the siege of Troy. More than that, he makes his telling accessible, managing—quite heroically—to sort out the genealogies, timelines, themes, actions, characters and motivations without ever getting bogged down in detail.