Various Voices: Prose, Poetry, Politics 1984-1998 by Harold Pinter (Faber, £9.99 in UK)

This is, in essence, a collection of loose ends, though dedicated Pinterians may be glad to have a large selection of his verse…

This is, in essence, a collection of loose ends, though dedicated Pinterians may be glad to have a large selection of his verse - which is so-so stuff for the most part, with occasional flashes of something better. The prose pieces include various speeches made at important events in the dramatist's life, a tribute to Beckett, a memoir of Anew MacMaster (it is highly interesting to learn that Pinter toured in Ireland with him in the early 1950s), and some political pieces exhibiting Pinter's somewhat stereotyped left-wing views. There are also - perhaps the most rewarding part of the book - two interviews with Pinter himself, one of them by two Catalans, which bring out his considerable professionalism.