The Brecht Memoir

Bentley, the translator into English of much of Bertolt Brecht's work, here recounts his friendship with the German playwright. From the '40s, when Brecht was in exile in Southern California, until his death in East Germany in 1956, Bentley was a frequent guest of the renowned writer; he describes in vivid, humorous detail Brecht's personal life. For example, wherever Brecht stayed, he ""lived'' with his wife and kept his mistress within walking distance. Bentley's portraits of Brecht's other friends, among them W. H. Auden, Peter Lorre and Charles Laughton, are sharp and illuminating. Of Brecht himself, Bentley remains respectful and independently forthright. He comments: ``Brecht was good insofar as he was Brecht. And he was not Brecht completely. Sometimes he was just Marxism or some other ism. And then, according to me, he was less good.'' February