the culture, and the beauty of this island in the world." In a 2012 essay about the importance of public libraries, English actor and writer Stephen Fry mentions that Peyrefitte's novels The Exile of Capri and Special Friendships were "unforgettable, transformative books" for him. Press cuttings Obituary in The Times, 7 November 2000, page 25. "In the minds of many, Roger Peyrefitte's reputation as a genuinely literary novelist is based on Les Amitiés Particulières (1944), which was also his first. He wrote many others, but none really matched the literary merit of the first, and the author seemed increasingly to seek a succès de scandale rather than any serious critical consideration." Obituary by James Kirkup in The Independent: The Tuesday Review, 7 November 2000, page 6. "Peyrefitte was a skilled manipulator of the media. He was charismatic to the point of absurdity, with his dramatic gestures and outrageous behaviour, so that in the end no one took any notice of his often ludicrous fabrications, though they were always delivered with great style and conviction, and with an effrontery that was amusingly malicious...Peyrefitte acknowledges the courage of his great predecessors André Gide, Marcel Proust, Jean Cocteau and Oscar Wilde, while regretting the timidity of Marcel Jouhandeau and many of the contemporary French writers, whether gay or straight, in pursuing the cause of homosexual (and heterosexual) rights." Obituary by Douglas Johnson in The Guardian, 15 November 2000, page 24. "André Gide, who had attempted to defend homosexuality in a much earlier work, was prophetic in his congratulations to Peyrefitte. He did not think that Les Amitiés Particulières would win the Goncourt prize, but he did believe it would still be read a century later." Bibliography Les Amitiés particulières, novel, Editions Flammarion 1944 (English translations as Special Friendships by Felix Giovanelli 1950 & Edward Hyams 1958: ) Mademoiselle de Murville, novel, Editions Jean Vigneau 1947 Le Prince des neiges, drama in 3 acts, Editions Jean Vigneau 1947 L'Oracle, novel, Editions Jean Vigneau 1948 (definitive edition 1974) Les Amours singulières, novel, Editions Jean Vigneau 1949 La Mort d'une mère, Editions Flammarion 1950 Les Ambassades, novel, Editions Flammarion 1951 (English translation 1953 by James FitzMaurice as Diplomatic Diversions: ) Les Œuvres libres - Roger Peyrefitte, etc. Editions Arthème Fayard 1951 Du Vésuve à l'Etna, travelogue, Editions Flammarion 1952 (English translation 1954 by John McEwen as South from Naples) La Fin des ambassades, novel, Editions Flammarion