The Life of Kenneth Tynan: Kathleen Tynan

Irrefutably, critic, essayist and biographer Kenneth Tynan (1927-1980) was extraordinary""sui generis'' as the author, his second wife, asserts in this perceptive and richly entertaining biography, a clever mix of objective and subjective elements. Precocious at school, a legend at Oxford (both for his brillance and his Oscar Wildean flamboyance), Tynan went on to become the champion of John Osborne and the other ``angry young men'' A persistent gadfly of the establishment who delighted to shock (he was the deviser of Oh! Calcutta), he was the co-architect, with Olivier, of England's National Theatre; and, according to many, the finest drama critic since Bernard Shaw. The author, on her part, is uniquely qualified to reveal the man behind the career credits: his insecurity and self-destructiveness, his compulsive Don Juanism, the waspishness that sometimes went with the wit and negated the charm. And she also provides unforgettable vignettes, in some cases very funny, of Tynan in the company of Olivier, Orson Welles, Tennessee Williams, Hemingway, Truman Capote and Marlene Dietrich. Photos. (November 16)