Chance Witness : An Outsider's Life in Politics

by Matthew Parris

Book Overview

A frank autobiography by The Times columnist and ex-politican Matthew Parris. His childhood was spent on a variety of different countries as his engineer father moved jobs; Rhodesia, Cyprus, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140297731
• ISBN13: 9780140297737
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 1.4" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Even when "in the gutter" he sees the varied universes above

Another autobiography/ethnography of a 20th/21st century man - beautifully written, descriptive, reflective - a gentle voice in a world of harsh realities. I find his voice honest and intentionally frank - he wants to tell us how it was, and does his best to do this with complete honesty; he trusts us, his readers, to hear honestly, to reflect with our verity, to compare our vision of truths, and he challenges us - to be as accepting as he is, to struggle with the difficult concepts (as we all do) and to dispel all doubts that might occur (whether these doubts spring from our own stuff or his writing). He shares his life experiences generously, asking for and providing acceptance. I found his views interesting & informative and his experiences courageous, revealing and alive with humanity. If you like reading your valued friend's up-market journal (with permission), enjoyable and revealing.

An interesting life and interesting views

He writes very well, sometimes poetically. His views are original and his range of enthusiasms and the challenges he embraces are stirring. There is a lot of honesty in this biography, but I think he deludes himself when he says on page 452 that he regrets hurting anybody: he thinks his sketches of people are merely witty, but they are often cruel and must hurt, especially people whom he knew as friends. And I was surprised to discover, for all his self-denigration, so much vanity in him.