This pseudo-autobiography of the fictional Logan Gonzago Mountstuart is written in the form of journals kept throughout his life. Mountstuart is an Englishman born in Uruguay to an English father and Uruguayan mother. His parents returned to England so that he could receive a "proper British education." Mountstuart leads an somewhat interesting life of serendipity, surviving Oxford with a mediocre degree, writing a few well-received books, serving in Naval Intelligence in WWII, dealing in fine art, and basically wandering from one thing to another with varying degrees of success. Throughout it all he drinks too much, womanizes, suffers personal tragedies, and really has no concept of money and much of the world around him. The only thing that kept me reading was my admiration of how well it is written. Mountstuart is a character you love to hate but Boyd's writing compels you to keep reading.
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