24 NOVEMBER 2007, Page 33

Lloyd Evans

Christmas looms and loyalties divide. Should I go for the Shameless Plug or the more high-minded Service to Literature? Luckily I'm able to unite these objectives by announcing that the funniest new book I read all year (in a strong field of five) was Cooler, Faster, More Expensive: The Return of the Sloane Ranger (Atlantic, £19.99) by Peter York and a friend of mine Olivia StewartLiberty. Olivia is my son's godmother and she promises to shower him with diamond-encrusted building bricks if her book becomes a Christmas bestseller. So — it's worth every penny. As for Literature, I hope my son's other godparent, the explorer Matthew Leeming, will read this recommendation and be inspired to complete his Afghan diary Altogether Elsewhere which Picador have been waiting for, in a state of mounting excitement, for six and a half years. Finish it, mate, and maybe they'll let me plug it here next Christmas.