This is topical in view of the recent major exhibition in London, although there are signs that Giacometti's reputation may be entering one of those automatic, almost meaningless troughs which happen to virtually all good artists posthumously. Lord knew him well personally and though there is a curiously snide, oblique tone to some of the writing, we are undoubtedly meeting the man at first hand. Italian Swiss by birth, Parisian by inclination and circumstance, Giacometti was one of the last great figures of the School of Paris, now quite unanswerably become past history. His odd marriage, his affairs with Isabel Delmer and others, his often tangled relations with other major artists such as Picasso, Derain, Balthus, etc., are well brought out, and so is his unique partnership with his brother Diego whose technical skill made Giacometti's large output possible. As a man he had his oddities, yet his selfless, almost religious devotion to his art is particularly inspiring in this age of PR and commercialism.