AustLit

'This essay undertakes a reappraisal of The Twyborn Affair (1979), focusing on its status as the final novel by Patrick White. David Marr's biography shows that White did not always consider The Twyborn Affair would be his last novel, and was in fact planning another while in the final stages of writing. As we know, however, this other novel did not eventuate, and The Twyborn Affair remains for posterity as White's theatricalized and over-determined farewell to the novel. This status is further underscored by the way his two subsequent works announce generic departures from the novel: the work immediate following is his biography, Flaws in the Glass: A Self Portrait (1981); and his final work is a memoir, Memoirs of Many in One (1986). Moreover, the latter work is signed by the pseudonymous "Agnes Xenophon Demirjian Gray," rather than Patrick White, who performs a removal from authorship to the role of editor.. (Introduction)