John Le Carré Gives His Blessing To Official Biography

John Le Carré has given his blessing to the first ever authorized biography of the acclaimed spy author and former spy.  The Daily Telegraph reports that biographer Adam Sisman will be given full access to le Carré’s personal archive for a book expected to be published in 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold. It's notable that the notoriously reclusive Le Carré, whose real name is David Cornwell, is not only allowing such a book, but cooperating, because two decades ago he waged a fierce legal campaign to prevent such a work from being published.  Journalist Graham Lord promised what the newspaper calls "salacious details about a famous author’s personal life" and "a thrilling romp through his mistresses, wives, loves and losses – and his work for the secret service." Le Carré successfully blocked the book's publication, but now he'll apparently allow such matters to be discussed. Novelist Robert Harris (who penned The Ghost, which was turned into the Pierce Brosnan movie The Ghost Writer) was previously tapped to pen Le Carré's official chronicle under the condition that he not publish until after the author's death, but confessed to The Telegraph that "I got distracted by writing my own novels, so I am happy for Adam to write [Le Carré's biography]. I might do a more impressionistic portrait, but I have a legal agreement with David that anything I know is not to be divulged before his death."