1 January 2015
How best is a bestseller?
Could it be that among the many words that have become overused, abused and exaggerated beyond all meaning, “bestseller” is the most misused of all? Screaming at us from the shelves, tables and remainder bins of our bookshops are covers proclaiming that what lies within is a “No.1 Bestseller” or that it has been written… Continue Reading
Could it be that among the many words that have become overused, abused and exaggerated beyond all meaning, “bestseller” is the most misused of all? Screaming at us from the shelves, tables and remainder bins of our bookshops are covers proclaiming that what lies within is a “No.1 Bestseller” or that it has been written… Continue Reading
A whole hour … and just one song. But what a song. Absolutely fascinating viewing from BBC Four with the screening of Danny Boy: the song that bewitched the world. There was not a minute of boredom or padding in this wide-ranging analysis of Danny Boy, its beginnings, its history, its performers and, above all,… Continue Reading
Time and again we read reports of the decomposing body of some poor soul being discovered in the house where they have lived for ever and a day. Shock, horror. “How could this happen in this modern day and age?” goes the cry. Why the surprised reaction? Rather than express shock that such events could… Continue Reading
16 December 2014
Apropos posting an apostrophe
The question for today (and unfortunately almost every working day) is: how can a person progress through the education system to degree level and beyond and still not know how to use an apostrophe? This query has been provoked by tackling an enthralling and extremely well-researched biography focussing on a major player in a major… Continue Reading
A disclaimer: I was not the anonymous author of a submission to Sunday Telegraph agony aunt Graham Norton seeking the answer, other than hibernation, to coping with Christmas. But I might well have been. Every word of “Anon” rang clear. He/she admitted actively loathing this time of year in every way – “the food, the… Continue Reading
14 December 2014
Tortured by the language terrorists
The message used to be, keep it simple. Now perhaps we should rephrase that to, keep it short. Global best-seller Patricia Cornwell reckons it is increasingly hard for a novelist to keep their readers engaged and interested. Attention spans have shrunk. Which is why she has reduced the number of pages in each chapter to… Continue Reading
Once more I ponder the age-old question: what is it about apostrophes that so many people fail to understand? I am wading my way through a book edit in which two-thirds of the corrections require the deletion, placement or shifting of an apostrophe. In case you are among the perplexed masses, apostrophes do not denote… Continue Reading
My letterbox – such an old-fashioned device in these days on inboxes and outboxes – is becoming more cluttered than ever. Perhaps I should be pleased for this increased influx consists mainly of seasonal greetings. I am being wished all manner of goodwill, bonhomie and success by so many people. Well, not so much people,… Continue Reading
Well, that was some book. And for once it lived up to all the hype and praise highlighted on its covers and frontispiece. Having earlier devoured the superb The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (and now looking forward to the much-praised stage version in a few months time), I have been even… Continue Reading
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