2 NOVEMBER 2002, Page 42

Ignoble allusions

From Mr George Szanzuely Sir: While I am flattered that my friend Taki should consider me a worthy recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature (High life, 26 October), I feel I should correct any erroneous impressions that readers of his column may get about me. I have never in my life claimed to be a survivor of one Holocaust, let alone two. Nor do I for one moment believe that I am Nobel laureate material. And, as anyone who knows me can attest, my stature is considerably greater than the miserable 5ft lin Taki ascribed to me.

George Szamuely New York