17 DECEMBER 1983, Page 52

Candida Lycett Green

The best were The Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux (Hamish Hamilton), Re- quired Writing by Philip Larkin (Faber) and The Innocent Millionaire by Stephen Vizinczey (Hamish Hamilton).

The worst were The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse edited by Blake Mor- rison, and The Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee (Seeker & Warburg).