SOURCE: “A Fortunate Man,” in New Statesman, January 23, 1987, pp. 28–29.

In the following review of Ways of Telling, Frith commends Dyer's homage to John Berger, but finds that the book raises more questions than it answers.

This is in every sense a good book [Ways of Telling], an affectionate introduction to John Berger's life's work, covering the criticism and essays from 1950s New Statesman days to 1985's The White Bird. It takes in all his fiction and poetry along the way, examining his collaborations with photographer Jean Mohr, TV producer director Mike Dibb and, in an added interview with Berger himself, film maker Alain Tanner. Dyer wants to honour Berger (the book was meant to coincide with his 60th birthday last November but got delayed by Pluto's troubles), to get him new readers and, perhaps most importantly, to compel proper public recognition of him as ‘one of our greatest...