The Talking Heads Style of Alan Bennett Bennett states in his introduction that "the forms... dictate themselves" and that the material requires to be "written in a particular way and no other." ". Each of the characters, according to the author, has a "single point of view" and no one "tells the whole story". He says that his characters are "naive" and "don't really know what they are saying". It is true that that's the way it is. We listeners can speculate about all of them. Graham's ambiguous sexuality, Susan's alcoholism, and Muriel's perverted husband are not revealed directly by any of the statements made to us. They are suggested by what is not said or from what comes indirectly inferred. In a very real sense, though, this is true to life and Bennett cleverly constructs each monologue to be as realistic as possible speaking to an inanimate object - the camera - each character is, so to speak, alone public is not "there", as far as the speaker is concerned, the camera is like a priest hidden in a confessional. Each person is able to speak quite frankly to the anonymous listener of interaction. This is not a process of two-way confidential gossip, as none of the characters expect a response. Bennett lets his characters reveal themselves openly and it is up to us to form our own opinions of them. He calls the style "austere" and so it is, since there is no expressive authorial decoration. What each character actually says is all we can work with, and we have to sift through the internal meanings for ourselves. One of the author's most impressive gifts is his ear for language. All characters use an idiomatic saying suited to their lifestyle and background. Bennett's use of clichés is extensive, each character once again using appropriate language regarding their background and upbringing. Their choice of language is often very funny, sometimes intentionally, as in the case of Susan's "Hazflor" episode and sometimes unintentionally, as in Doris' "Love God and Close All the Gates." It is difficult to classify the form of these stories. Bennett calls them monologues, and strictly speaking they are, but he also says that many of them could be comedies..