28 MAY 1988, page 27

Smug Jug

Though caught in the act Of admiring itself For its porcelain tact, Its high-on-the-shelf Refusal to think That someone might dare Ask for a drink When seeing it there, This jug......

Books

Still staggering on Ferdinand Mount LINES OF DISSENT: WRITING FROM THE NEW STATESMAN 1913 -1988 edited by Stephen Howe Verso, £14.95, pp.376 N othing is more significant in the......

Too Many People Enjoy Themselves

Geoffrey Wheatcroft THE GRAND OBSESSION: A COLLINS ANTHOLOGY OF OPERA edited by Rupert Christiansen Collins, fI6, pp. 447 E asing himself into armchair with cigar lit and......