Frederic Raphael settles old scores with a vengeance

Last Post is a collection of reminiscences, anecdotes and a settling of old scores by Frederic Raphael in the form of imaginary letters to many of the people who have been part of his long life. You might expect a nonagenarian’s critical faculties to have ‘mellowed by the stealing hours of time’, but far from it. Raphael’s intelligence and acerbic wit are undiminished.

George Steiner suffers a sustained attack for being gauche, malicious and too obviously ambitious

Those who have crossed his path will be aware of his ability to ‘verbalise easily’ and, as he himself confesses: ‘It is one of my failings that I know how to hurt people.’ Jonathan Miller is criticised for being insufficiently conscious of his Jewish heritage. Miller in turn described Raphael as displaying an unattractive ‘piranha-like savagery’ in his disapprovals. Kenneth Tynan comes under fire for his ‘smart-assery’ and ‘clenched fist and limp wrist’. But Raphael’s final assessment of him could be taken as a sort of tribute: ‘You were a one-off all the way, merely unforgettable, you bastard.’