2 DECEMBER 2000, Page 37

Fantastic fabrications

From Mr Philip Hensher Sir: I see no point in continuing an argu- ment with Michael Horovitz (Letters, 28 October, 18 November), but he must not pretend to be 'quoting' me when he pro- duces a piece of vulgar, unfunny, offensive doggerel of no relevance to anything. I have never written such a thing in my life, and not unnaturally assumed that it was merely Mr Horovitz indulging his poisonously big- oted fantasies. But, of course, anyone who had contemplated his entirely fantastic interpretations of Milton's statements on prosody would hardly be surprised that he is prepared to go still further, and fabricate statements by those he disagrees with.

Philip Hensher

London SW8