Later writings

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Toohey
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Later writings

Post by Toohey »

I was aware that Wheatley continued writing up until his death. ioften wondered what he wrtoe after the Irish Witch and came across these titles on wikipedia. I've never read any of these let alone heard of them.

Can anyone fill me in with some info on the following titles?

Desperate Measures 1974
The Young Man Said 1977
Officer and Temporary Gentleman 1978
Drink and Ink 1979
The Deception Planners 1980

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Wheatley"
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Desperate Measures is the final Roger Brook novel. (Later in life, Wheatley said he had only two writing ambitions left: to complete the Brook series--which is why there were two in a row--and to finish the autobiography.) If nothing else, it has one of the best last-page twists of any Wheatley novel...which you'll have to read for yourself.

The memoirs were envisioned as five volumes, but when DW died, the publishers had other ideas. Because it was concerned so much with his war work, The Deception Planners was issued separately, as an independent book. What would have been the fourth and fifth volumes were cut and combined, and so we have: The Young Man Said, Officer and Temporary Gentleman, and Drink and Ink.

Hope that helps.
Steve Whatley
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Post by Steve Whatley »

On a point of detail, I think it was the third and fifth volumes which were combined as Drink And Ink; The Deception Planners would have come fourth in the series.

As to cutting, I don't think any was necessary, as Wheatley hadn't completed the manuscripts. The editor Anthony Lejeune told me that there was barely enough material for Drink And Ink, and I believe this is confirmed by the rather sketchy nature of the narrative compared to The Young Man Said and Officer And Temporary Gentleman.

I regret that DW didn't write more about his years as an author, as his success brought him into the society of so many interesting characters. His cultivation of people in positions of importance and celebrity has led to accusations of social climbing and snobbery, but I say who amongst us would not take the opportunity to meet some of the more colourful characters of our time?
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Oops. You are right, and Lejeune's introduction to The Deception Planners makes that clear (while the intro to Drink and Ink does not). Odd that the fourth volume should have been so fully realized, and the third and fifth so sketchy; I wonder why...
Steve Whatley
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Post by Steve Whatley »

I think that is explained somewhere in DW's writings - if not in The Deception Planners itself, then perhaps in Stranger Than Fiction. As I recall, he wrote the WW2 memoirs shortly after the event, but realised that they couldn't be published at that time. By the time Wheatley had died (as had most other characters in the narrative) and the book was published, the issue of revealing the 'secrets' of the Joint Planning Staff was no longer a matter of any great importance.

It would seem from Drink And Ink that DW had little more than 'sketched out' the ideas for items to be included in the third and fifth volumes. What a shame he didn't leave a more complete account of his writing years.
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