This book is entitled, 'Picasso: His Life and Work': on this basis, the book fails. I learned a great deal about his work but very little about his life from reading this tome.
Roland Penrose not only writes a totally uncritical biography of Picasso, he seems to positively fawn. I almost expected to read that, in one of their meetings, Picasso broke wind and it was like hearing a new symphony. I would not wish for a kiss and tell book, but whenever Picasso is criticized, Penrose makes it clear that the reason must be his adversary's jealousy, bad temper or some other fault. If only he had been blessed with a faith, we could have been reading about a saint!
Having made this complaint, I must balance the picture by saying that my poor understanding of Picasso's works has been immeasurably improved by this eminently readable book. ( )