Wednesday, April 13, 2005

A GKC Fiction

In the September 1923 issue of The Adelphi, the biographer Hesketh Pearson published what appeared to be a verbatim report of a private quarrel between Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw. (Shaw: "Have you any adequate excuse for not being drunk?") In fact it was entirely Pearson's invention. Chesterton was delighted and told Pearson that he ought to write his next book for him. However, the transcript was thought to be authentic by most readers, and to this day it is accepted and often quoted by Chesterton scholars. [Ian Hunter, Nothing to Repent, London: 1987, p. 94]

1 comment:

Dr. Thursday said...

If you are curious to read it, it can also be found on pages 577 through 583 of Collected Works volume 11 (the plays and Shaw volume).

It appears that Mr. Pearson was quite familiar with the opening dialog from The Ball and the Cross... See what you think.

Hmmm... Isn't it about time for someone else to attempt something along these lines?