One hundred years after his birth, Graham Greene's work still excites discussion. Lately, however, it's the legends and improbabilities of his private life that have been attracting the most attention.

As scholars gather this week to mark the centenary of the novelist's birth on Oct. 2, 1904, discussion of Greene's prodigious literary legacy risks being overshadowed by redoubled interest - piqued by the racy last installment of his authorized biography - in the author's personal adventures and voracious sexual appetite.

Norman Sherry, the biographer appointed by Greene himself, spent more than 20 years retracing his journeys and ploughing through his papers for the exhaustive three-volume work.

Greene's family, it seems, is not impressed.

"I wouldn't take what Sherry says as gospel. He didn't do very much research," said Greene's daughter, Caroline Bourget. "There are lots of errors, lots of mistakes. He's just put pages and pages of Graham's writing and some fairly banal comment. I don't think it's a biography as such."

Thirteen years after the author's death, his centenary is being marked by events mapping the treacherous topography of what his fans call Greeneland - the seedy, piquant landscape of compromised spies, boozing priests and everyday sinners who people Greene's oeuvre.

There's an exhibition of Greene memorabilia at the British Library and a weeklong conference in his hometown of Berkhamstead, northwest of London, featuring discussions of Greene's contribution to cinema - he penned The Third Man - his tortured Catholicism, his literary debt to Joseph Conrad and his relationship with Charlie Chaplin.

There's even a stage musical of Greene's seaside thriller Brighton Rock opening Oct. 5 at London's Almeida Theatre - directed by Michael Attenborough, whose father Richard starred in the 1947 film of the novel.

And then there's the third and final volume of Sherry's monumental biography, The Life of Graham Greene, covering the years from 1955 until Greene's death in 1991 at the age of 86.

Sherry, a professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, explores Greene's large literary output, bouts of depression, struggles with faith - and formidable sex drive.

It's those intimate sections, excerpted last week in the Sunday Times newspaper, that have generated the most interest. Sherry calls Greene "a sexual raider" who "continued to cross the line, to break taboos" throughout his life.

"Brothels fascinated Greene," notes the biographer, who reproduces a list Greene compiled of his 47 favorite prostitutes, awarded nicknames including "Russian Boots" and "the one who wouldn't."

Greene converted to Roman Catholicism at 22 - yet despite his commitment to the faith he was also wracked by doubts which were reflected in his writing.

And he had many flings and several long-term affairs while married to his wife of more than 60 years, Vivien. Greene's intense relationship with married American Catherine Walston is echoed in the love triangle at the center of his novel The End of the Affair.

Sherry argues that Greene's sexual drive "powerfully fed his sense of innate sin. The only relief could come in the hope of divine mercy."

The Graham Greene Birthplace Trust can be found at www.grahamgreenebt.org