What's Become of Waring
Anthony Powell
 The novel is narrated by an anonymous publishing firm employee, who is himself working on a book about Stendhal and violence. At a seance, an apparent warning is received that something is wrong with bestselling travel writer, T.T. Waring. Waring, anticipating Thomas Pynchon in his insistence on privacy and anonymity, is soon confirmed dead. Through various efforts to bring out an official life of Waring, many secrets are slowly revealed, especially concerning Waring’s identity and the sources of his travel literature. The inner workings and tensions of the publishing business (in which Powell was himself employed for about a decade) and the assortment of individuals brought together through a shared interest in spiritualism provide many opportunities for developing conflicting personal desires amongst the various characters. The novel ends with a series of comic reversals, not untinged with melancholy, and the narrator’s realization that most of life involves the pursuit of power.