I trust that fellow viewers were as appalled
as was I about the lack of respect shown towards one of our great authors and
his magnum opus on the electric television the other evening.
I was watching an egregious conglomeration of
excrement called "Task Master" on the Home Dysentery channel, where a
bunch of space-filling sixth rate self-styled comedians press the public
towards suicide by attempting silliness.*
In the course of the latest episode, there
was an unwarranted attack on that fine publication “I Blame the Beatles” by Tom
Widdicombe, who if he is not already, will shortly be a Nobel literature
laureate. Seldom has a work of art so accurately encapsulated the zeitgeist
(have you encapsulated the zeitgeist, missus?). My first edition sits proudly
amongst Eco, Trollope and Solzhenitsyn and not too far from Wisden. (Widdicombe’s
later equestrian books are more fanciful and satirical but, I am told, still
worth a read).
There are still copies available at Amazon
although the current prices reflect the value of the works. Amazon.com has the
book at half the price of that of the UK site – a reflection perhaps of how
much in need of enlightenment that forlorn continent is.
I expect that if you are reading this then
you will have fallen into the category of widely-read and cultured individuals
who maintain high standards on the electric internet and probably have a copy
of your own. Why not buy another?
*Actually quite funny.
