MOST THINGS, IN my view, last too long - speeches at memorial services, Bruckner symphonies, dinner parties, holidays, waits for flights, and Thatcher and Blair governments. Add to that list far too many contemporary works of fiction and biography, and far too much 'quality' journalism.

'Make It Short' seems to me a maxim that every writer should pin up above his desk before embarking on the writing of a book. But, surprisingly in this age of rush and a surfeit of leisure attractions, books continue to grow more and more obese. Oddly, this is the