Alan Bennett’s new play, The Habit of Art, is opening at the National Theatre on 5 November 2009.
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Vol. 25 No. 1 · 2 January 2003
pages 3-7 | 7066 words
Secrets are best kept by those who have no sense of humour
Alan Bennett resumes his diary
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Letters
Vol. 25 No. 2 · 23 January 2003
From Elizabeth Clowes
Alan Bennett's diary entry about the diagnosis of Iris Murdoch's Alzheimer's (LRB, 2 January), reminded me of a psychogeriatrician's comment in the late 1980s. She told me that she no longer relied on her patients' recollection of the name of the Prime Minister: they might not be able to count backwards, know the day and year, or identify a skirting board, but they could all name Margaret Thatcher.
Elizabeth Clowes
London E9
Vol. 25 No. 4 · 20 February 2003
From Andrew Sheppard
Elizabeth Clowes (Letters, 23 January) reports that the psychogeriatrician's question, 'Who is the Prime Minister?' lost its usefulness in the 1980s – even the seriously confused knew it was Margaret Thatcher. The question still wasn't working well into the 1990s: even those whom subsequent examination proved fully compos mentis were inclined to answer: 'Margaret Thatcher.'
Andrew Sheppard
University of Exeter
