22, 1 Bradley Pearson's Foreword

“I have already by implication described this ‘reportage’ as a work of art. I do not of course by this mean a work of fantasy. All art deals with the absurd and aims at the simple. Good art speaks truth, indeed is truth, perhaps the only truth. I have endeavoured in what follows to be wisely artful and artfully wise, and to tell the truth as I understand it, not only concerning the superficial and ‘existing’ aspects of this drama, but also concerning what lies deeper.”

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And now I am speaking, as I explained, in the persona of the self of several years ago, the often inglorious ‘hero’ of the tale that follows. I am fifty-eight years old. I am a writer.” (Murdoch 1999: 11 f.)