REVIEWS 303 faulty date and naming of Lawrence's mother on Lawrence's birth certificate, errors he convincingly explains as misunderstanding (1155 n. 3). Here Wilson relies on the facts as otherwise established, not on the document. Like the rest of us, Wilson must choose what to believe—which document to accept as true, which to consider "veneer" or "misunderstanding." And his choices often seem idiosyncratic. Why accept a source that sounds self-serving, and doubt another that seems disinterested; what supports each opinion, are questions a good critical biographer like John Mack, in his A Prince of Our Disorder (1976), takes pains to answer. All these Wilson considers silenced by his claim of historical objectivity. Much can be learned from the formidable bulk of material presented in this mammoth tome, though too frequently the selections repeat well-known published material without fresh insight. Rather than rehash the old classics, Wilson might have proffered more gems from the hoard of documents to which he had access. Despite unique access to people, documents, and time, Wilson has not written the biograpy to incorporate and supersede all others. A novice would find more readable any of the recent introductions to T. E. Lawrence. Those familiar with Lawrence will receive a broader vision of the politics of his age, but little about the man who is this biography's ostensible subject. Regrettably, Wilson's flawed comprehension of the nature of his genre and subject strands him with those who, he complains, "have ignored, distorted, or suppressed large parts of the evidence in order to give their preconceived theories an illusion of credibility" (13). Victoria Carchidi Massey University John Dexter, The Honourable Beast: A Posthumous Autobiography. New York: Routledge, 1993. 340 pp. $25.00. There is something right about the form and content of The Honourable Beast. There is also something amiss. John Dexter probably would have liked it that way. As an experiment in autobiographical form, the work yields promising results. As an appropriate testing ground for its particular subject, the experiment falters. The promise resident in the work's innovative posthumous autobiographical form does not overcome the overriding difficulty of its arguably obscure author. John Dexter's thirty—year theatrical career witnessed his tenure as director for London's highly regarded Royal Court Theatre and National Theatre as well as Director of Productions for New York City's Metropolitan Opera House. In numerous ground-breaking productions, including Equus, M. Butterfly, Amadeus, and Dialogues of the Carmelites, Dexter's stage work and highly influential approach to theatrical production are generally acknowledged within the theatrical communities while remaining largely unrecognized by those outside. Overshadowed by the cult of the actor, the director is generally obscured in the public's eye by the star's shine. "Written" after his death in 1990, the innovative form suggested by the work's subtitle , A Posthumous Autobiography, is constructed through 15 sections comprised of selections from Dexter's diaries, correspondence, and work notes. Diligently compiled by Dexter's long-time companion, Riggs O'Hara, the posthumous autobiography allows its belated subject to "author" his own story while numerous gaps and inconsistencies in this narrative must necessarily remain unexplored. 304 biography Vol. 17,No. 3 Addressing the work's inherent form/subject friction by arranging the selections around major productions or periods of Dexter's life, O'Hara craftily shapes the materials . While true to the strictures of autobiography (Dexter did write the book's contents ), the imposed form does not allow gaps in either the related information or in the reader's knowledge to be filled in. For theatre scholars familiar with Dexter's productions and theatrical ideology, the book's assumption of a general familiarity with its author may not prove a hurdle. For a general readership it can only be highly confusing. When selections of Dexter's writings accomplish a complete narrative or ring with a reader's association or knowledge, the insights gained are always penetrating. However , when the reader is confronted with previously unknown facets of Dexter's life or work, the form frustrates more than informs. Dexter's reputation as a theatrical artist is twofold: known for the high standards and innovative interpretations...