When I Was Collecting Material For A

I've Served On Five Different Juries, And Many Of Them Were Bonkers In Their Own Way.

I've Been Intrigued By 'le Monde' Ever Since Work Took Me To Paris Once, And I Noted That On A Day When There Was Some Huge Worldwide Story, The Paper Led Its Front Page On Some Cabinet Changes In Turkey. It Implied A Magnificent Disdain For The Quotidian Folderol Of Mere News.

Kind 'guardian' Readers Have Been Forwarding Me Round Robin Christmas Newsletters For Years Now: Lengthy Missives Full Of Perfect Children, Exotic Holidays, Talented Pets And Endless, Tedious Detail. The Notes That Accompanied Them Revealed They Had Inspired In The Original Recipients Everything From Mild Irritation To Absolute Rage.

Reagan Is The Only Man To Take The Presidency As A Part-time Job, A Means Of Filling Up The Otherwise Empty Hours Of Retirement.

The British Are The Last National Group Who Can Be Insulted By Hollywood Without Any Comeback. These Days If You Depict Italians As Gangsters, Saudis As Terrorists Or Mexicans As Violent Drug Dealers You'll Never Hear The End Of It. But As Still The Largest - And Possibly The Richest - Ethnic Group In The States, The British Just Have To Take It.