17 DECEMBER 1994, page 69

Hanged By The Neck

Andrew Barrow THE BOOK OF TIES by Francois Chaille Flammarion, £29.95, pp. 176 I t is claimed in the preface to this weighty but lightweight tome that there is `a growing need......

Stranger Than Fiction

William Trevor N ewspapers are bought for the contri- butions of a single columnist when the columnist is pleasingly succinct, capable of being funny about serious matters, and......