Reviewer Blues

I have been asked if I would "consider reviewing the occasional book" - a gloomy prospect given the low quality of prose that somehow finds print on this island.

Never mind, I like being horrid and if I can discourage, offend or depress just one scribbler out there, I will have earned my meagre fee.

Apart from free books, the other thing I like is reading other, skilled reviewers for ideas and phrases to pass off as my own.

Look at this corker from the FT's Catherine Czerkawska on Carol Gilligan's Kyra.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged among writers that every other professional seems to want to write a novel ... American feminist psychologist Carol Gilligan, celebrated for her 1982 'In A Different Voice', is no exception.

The story is familiar: woman loves man, man leaves without saying why, woman goes into therapy at somewhat tedious length. They meet again. Can they resolve anything? Possibly. This is all very much like life and I enjoyed the novel's lack of neat resolution."

Brilliant, concise. No need to even open the Gilligan tome.